Sanctuary's 'Most Traumatized Bear' Is Living a Life 'of Hope and Happiness' a Year After Her Rescue

• Dawn the moon seal spent 20 years living in a cage on a bear bile farm in Vietnam before
• Animals Asia rescued Dawn in February 2023 and brought her to a sanctuary where she began the long road to recovery
• Dawn was scared, bald and helpless when she first arrived at the sanctuary, but is now thriving more than a year after her rescue

Dawn the moon bear is a reminder that every creature deserves a second chance.

On February 22, 2023, Animals Asia rescued Dawn from a bile farm — a facility where bear bile is painfully extracted while the animal is caged — in Phung Thuong, Vietnam.

Before the nonprofit arrived, Dawn spent 20 years in a small cage at a bile farm, undergoing routine bile extractions. Life on the bile farm has left Dawn bald, scared and emotionally helpless. Animals Asia said the moon bear was “the most traumatized bear” the organization had seen when it was rescued in 2023.

More than a year later, Dawn is one of the happiest bears at Animals Asia’s Tam Dao sanctuary in Vietnam. To celebrate Dawn’s transformation and Endangered Species Day on May 17, Ms. Joanna Lumley created a video with Animal Asia about the resilient moon bear.

In the touching clip, Lumley recounts Dawn’s devastating beginnings and the many milestones the bear has overcome to get to where she is today.

“Seeing Dawn’s transformation from a life of darkness to a life of hope and happiness is a profound reminder of the resilience of these magnificent animals and the power of compassion,” Lumley said in a statement. “This video not only tells the story of one bear’s journey to freedom, but also calls on each of us to act and help put an end to the cruelty of bile farming. I am so proud to stand with Animals Asia, an organization committed to eradicating the centuries-long practice of bile farming in Vietnam and saving the remaining bile bears in the country. Together, by supporting this vital cause, we can give these endangered animals the dignified life they rightfully deserve.”

Zora the moon seal on the day of her rescue.

Nezahat Sevim/Animals Asia

Animals Asia believes that bear breeders put Dawn in a dark, cramped cage when she was a cub and kept the bear there for 20 years until she was rescued. When Animals Asia went to take the cub to its sanctuary, employees found the bear distressed by the sight of humans after a lifetime of neglect.

Dawn was showing signs of psychological trauma — such as head bobbing and “learned helplessness” that caused the moon bear to curl into a ball at the slightest provocation. Animals Asia also found evidence of physical injuries, including hypertension, broken teeth, arthritis, an infected gall bladder and malnutrition.

After 20 years in her tiny cage, Dawn finally left and moved to the Tam Dao sanctuary quarantine in Asia, where she stayed for 60 days. Despite having a much larger space, several dedicated caregivers and plenty of food, Dawn initially struggled to adjust to her new environment due to the trauma she had experienced.

Dawn smiles during her recovery at the Tam Dao Animals Asia Sanctuary.

Nezahat Sevim/Animals Asia

“Although she is often calm, she participates well in enrichment activities and will even feed from the hand, in certain situations she can become overwhelmed and completely shut down. In these moments she withdraws into a corner, turns her back to what scares her, pulls her head into she curls up into a ball and visibly flinches at every sound she makes. It’s one of the worst things I’ve seen in my time no matter what she does, terrible things will keep happening to her,” said Sarah van Herpt, senior bear team manager at Animals Asia, after the moon bear arrived at the sanctuary.

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Fortunately, through patience and compassion, the Aniamls Asia staff taught Dawn that the “terrible things” she went through were over. In the spring of 2023, Dawn began to smile and act more sociable with her human caretakers, who worked to gain the bear’s trust through relationship-building sessions with lots of treats.

Moon bear Dawn befriends another bear at Animal Asia’s Tam Dao sanctuary in Vietnam.

Nezahat Sevim/Animals Asia

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Dawn’s initial smile was followed by many more firsts. In May 2023, the moon seal was released from the quarantine area and relocated to its new den in the sanctuary. Soon after, Dawn enjoyed her first bath. In June 2023, after dental surgery, Dawn started eating solid food. In the summer of 2023, Dawn began to make friends with several other bears at the sanctuary and took her first steps outside.

After all these milestones, Dawn is a far different bear than when she first arrived at Animals Asia’s sanctuary in 2023. All her fur has grown back, she shows curiosity and playfulness, and she believes that the people around her are there to care for her—and they are. !

Zora the bathing bear.

Nezahat Sevim/Animals Asia

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“It’s hard to believe that Dawn is the same scared little bear that walked through the sanctuary doors just over a year ago.” Jill Robinson, founder of Animals Asia, said. “Today she has a life she never dared to dream of: grass under her paws, the breeze ruffling her fur, and a love she’s never known warming her heart. Dawn’s journey is a testament to the resilience of the spirit and the healing power of kindness.”

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Zora enjoys her time outside at the Tam Dao Animals Asia sanctuary in Vietnam.

Nezahat Sevim/Animals Asia

Animals Asia is working to bring this kind of happy ending to all the bears stuck in bile farms in Vietnam. In 2017, after years of negotiations with Animals Asia, the Vietnamese government agreed to end bear bile farming and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Animals Asia, naming the charity as its official partner in shutting down the industry.

Since then, Animals Asia has been working to relocate all the bears left on the bile farms to their sanctuaries. In November 2023, Animals Asia opened its second sanctuary in Vietnam. Once this sanctuary is full, Animals Asia estimates that no more bears will be trapped in bile farms in Vietnam.

To learn more about Dawn and how to support bears like her, visit the Animals Asia website.

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Source: HIS Education