Find out more about Anh and Em
Rescued: July 2020
Home: Vietnam
Likes: Climbing and foraging
Best friend: Each other
Male moon bears Anh and Em were stolen from their mother and wild home at just four months old. Had they not been rescued in time, the pair might have ended up caged on a bile farm, forced to perform in a circus, or sold into the exotic pet trade.
But today, Anh and Em have grown in size and confidence. This cheeky duo loves to climb, splash, wrestle and forage for all the tasty treats their carers have hidden for them.
With a natural lifespan of around 30 years, we need your help to provide fresh foods, exciting toys, expert vet care and everything two rescued bears need to live happy and healthy lives.
Anh and Em are our first-ever rescued bears to be available for sponsorship together. This means you’ll get updates on not just one, but two beautiful bears as they navigate sanctuary life, cause mischief, make new friends and so much more.
Have Anh and Em won you over? Become their special sponsor today.
Find out more about David
Rescued: 2008
Home: Vietnam
Likes: Wrestling with other bears
Best friend: Everyone!
David was one of the first sun bears to set paw in our Vietnam sanctuary. His years of experience here mean he’s helped many new and nervous little sun bears settle in.
His tried and tested technique to win them over is to gently approach and embrace them in a warm bear hug until they relax and start to play.
But life wasn't always fun-filled and happy for David. In Vietnam, sun bears risk being illegally poached from the wild to be sold as exotic pets or farmed for their bile.
Fortunately, David was confiscated by Vietnam forestry officials and given a safe and loving home here at our sanctuary.
In early 2022 our usually bouncy and bright boy David became suddenly and severely lame. After exhausting all other options, in April this brave bear underwent surgery to remove his left hindlimb.
Just a couple of months later, David was reintroduced to his furry friends and he’s been happily wrestling away as if they’d never been apart.
David's courage and resilience tell us his days of running around and causing mischief are not yet behind him.
Have you fallen head over heels for David's charms? Become his special sponsor today.
Find out more about Mausi
Rescued: 2007
Home: Vietnam
Likes: Lounging in her hammock
Best friend: Merlin
Sweet and playful moon bear Mausi was found stuffed into a secret bus compartment. Illegally poached from the wild, she was likely headed to a bear bile farm.
Mausi was rushed to our sanctuary alongside her brother Olly and sister Mara at barely a few weeks old, weighing just 2kg. The cubs should have been with their mother in their beautiful forest home.
At our sanctuary, with lots of tender loving care, Mausi blossomed into a beautiful big bear. She has a huge stunning lemon yellow crescent and the cutest little snowdrop of white fur on her dark nose.
Although Mausi likes to bask in the sun, she also loves it when the days grow cooler. You see, that's when she starts to "fill out for winter" and gets to enjoy all the extra fatty foods like sticky peanut butter –yum!
Is Mausi a bear after your own heart? Become her special sponsor today.
Find out more about Murphy
Rescued: 2015
Home: Vietnam
Likes: Swinging, climbing and generally getting up to mischief
Best friend: Goldie
Gorgeous sun bear Murphy arrived at our sanctuary dirty, starving and utterly traumatised. His mother was likely killed in front of him by poachers looking to put a price on his life. He was found stuffed into a backpack as his traffickers attempted to smuggle him out of the country.
But he was saved just in time.
Murphy was so young when he came to Animals Asia’s sanctuary that he had to be bottle-fed around the clock. He even learned to take his first steps here.
All grown up now, you wouldn’t recognise him. He’s usually a dark blur against the greenery as he zooms around with his best friend Goldie, climbing and wrestling the day away.
If he feels he’s lacking attention he’s learned is that if he makes cub vocalisations, humans and bears alike will drop everything to give him love and fuss. He has everyone wrapped around his little paw!
Is Murphy playfully pulling at your heartstrings? Become his special sponsor today.
Find out more about Smudge
Rescued: 2014
Home: China
Likes: Grass – she spent so long on concrete
Best friend: Wai Kee
Smudge has a story like no other. In the Spring of 2021, she was one of over a hundred bears who made the epic journey from Nanning bear farm to our sanctuary in Chengdu.
Smudge was the last cub born on the farm before Animals Asia took over their care. She was found in a humid, pitch-dark cell at the back of a concrete yard, crying for her mother.
Thankfully help arrived just in time and Smudge never had to experience the painful life of a bear exploited for her bile.
Today, Smudge is a sweet and sensitive soul who is happiest when playing outside under the warm sun or snuggled up in a basket for a snooze with best friend Wai Kee.
After years of being doted on by her dedicated bear carers, Smudge has turned into a little bit of a princess, with very high standards. She’ll delicately nibble her fruit, and turn her nose up at anything less than perfect. After all she's been through, we’re sure you’ll agree Smudge deserves the best.
Has Smudge pawed her way into your heart? Become her very special sponsor today.
Find out more about Vandrew
Rescued: 2010
Home: Vietnam
Likes: Playing 'submarine' in the pool, wrestling with friends
Best friends: Bosley and Sharky
Vandrew was rescued from a hideous bile farm in a terrible state. He was extremely skinny, half-blind and missing his entire right forearm. He had scars all over his head from repeatedly rubbing on the cage bars in frustration.
His scars, still visible, are a reminder of his heartbreaking past. But they’re healed. And today, Vandrew is a gentle giant who loves to swing and splash away his days at our sanctuary.
He may only have three legs and one eye, but he can wrestle with the best of them! And among his group, no one can beat mighty Vandrew in the competition of holding their breath underwater! He loves this game, and bear carers know that if they spot a dark figure moving around under the pool surface making bubbles, it's Vandrew!
Does Vandrew’s fighting spirit resonate with you? Become his special sponsor today.
Find out more about Bubu
Rescued: 2010
Home: Vietnam
Likes: Lounging on his hammock
Best friend: Milagro and Zebedee
Friendly chubby bear Bubu was rescued from a bile farm where he had been kept in a cage so small, he could barely turn around. He arrived at our Vietnam sanctuary small, undernourished and suffering from a number of terrible health issues.
Bubu has an enlarged heart that makes breathing hard on hot days and after exercise. But he receives daily medication to help him live comfortably and is a star pupil in the physiotherapy program. But despite all his health problems, Bubu is a blissfully happy and playful bear.
A food lover, Bubu is busy for much of the day foraging for dropped peanuts! Otherwise, you’ll likely find him slow-motion wrestling with his fluffy friends Milagro and Zebedee, blowing bubbles in the pool practising for the next Bearlympics or snoozing in his hammock.
Is Bubu the bear for you? Become Bubu’s special sponsor today.
Find out more about Olly
Rescued: 2007
Home: Vietnam
Likes: Being the centre of attention
Best friend: His sister Mausi
Long and lanky boy, Olly, is a bit of a jester. He always seems to be doing something silly, especially if there's a camera around.
But the first few weeks of Olly’s life were filled with terror. He was captured from the wild as a tiny cub alongside his sisters Mara and Mausi – their mother likely killed in front of them. Thankfully, the tiny 2kg cubs were rescued before they could be sold as exotic pets or to a bile farm.
Today, fun-loving Olly loves to wrestle and splash in the pool with his pals, fellow moon bears Lexi, Yin Yang and Cromwell.
A real foodie, Olly has an insatiable appetite and when he's not goofing around, you can be sure he'll be foraging for food – there's not much he wouldn't do for a juicy apple.
Is there a moon-bear-shaped space in your heart that only sweet Olly can fill? Sponsor this special bear today.
Find out more about Kevin
Rescued: 2006
Home: China
Likes: Pretty much everything
Best friend: Sepp, a blind bear with mobility issues
Kevin is quite possibly the most joyful moon bear on the planet. He's affectionately known as our smiling bear as he always seems to have a big goofy grin spread across his handsome, happy face.
Poor Kevin didn't always have it so easy though. He arrived at our sanctuary in a bad way. He'd lost a paw in a hunter's snare. And a decade spent caged as a bile bear meant this poor boy was in a lot of pain.
But today Kevin’s pain is managed and he doesn't let his missing paw stop him from enjoying life to the full. He lives happily with a group of other special bears. Some are missing limbs and others are blind, but all are gentle and kind. Kevin loves to play and wrestle and is the most popular bear in his group.
Has Kevin’s courage and love for life captivated your heart? Become his special sponsor today.
Find out more about Benji
Rescued: 2005
Home: China
Likes: Digging, swimming and crushing coconuts
Best friend: Poupouce
This impossibly gorgeous, huge Tibetan brown bear, is Benji. He has the most wonderful golden highlights in his thick, glossy, brown coat.
Until his rescue, Benji lived in a deep, dusty pit with his sister Poupouce. Saved by the monks from poachers when they were cubs, they’d become too large and dangerous to care for and we brought the siblings to sanctuary.
Thankfully, those days are long behind them. Today Benji is a strong, handsome and happy bear, who shares a large enclosure with Poupouce. He is a force of nature as he digs his way to middle-earth, thunderously leaps around the grass or makes tidal waves in his pool, savouring every day of his freedom.
Has beautiful Benji stolen your heart? Become his very special sponsor today.
Find out more about Delaney
Rescued: 2000
Home: China
Likes: Chilling in the pool
Housemate: Ciro
Tall, dark and handsome…. Delaney is the perfect bear.
He was one of the first 63 bears rescued and brought to our China bear sanctuary. Although he’s one of our more senior residents, he’s still one of the most playful bears at the sanctuary. And who can blame him for his prolonged cub-hood, when the first years of his life were spent in a cage barely bigger than his body, on a bear bile farm.
Now that Delaney is free to express himself, he’s rather meticulous, taking hours to construct the perfect nest out of leaves and straw. He’ll often start from scratch if it isn’t quite right.
Delaney is a real softie and at bedtime, often chooses to cosily cuddle up with his furry friends. When winter rolls around you’re guaranteed to find him resting in the same dig pit each year.
Could you befriend gentle, elderly bear, Delaney? Become his very special sponsor today.
Find out more about JudeJasperina
Rescued: 2014
Home: China
Likes: Destroying hessian sacks and munching on marshmallows
Best friend: Barnaby
JudeJasperina spent years on a bile farm in Nanning, China (pictured below). She arrived at our sanctuary in Chengdu in 2021, and since then she has shown us what a brave and determined big bear she is. She’s overcome her fears and lives every single day of her new life to the fullest.
An active and strong bear, JudeJasperina is always the first one to go out and explore the enclosure. Here, she likes to climb up the wooden structures and stretch out on the highest platform. Or she’ll spend many hours floating and splashing in the pool.
She always has a great appetite and really likes her main diet of fruit and vegetables. But she especially likes sweet foods like jam, marshmallows and honey.
Her golden crescent is quite unusual in that it drapes over the top of her arms as if she’s wearing an off-the-shoulder top. It matches her cheeky smile.
Could you be the kindred spirit JudeJasperina is looking for? Become her very special sponsor today.