Besides her metal torture vest and imprisonment, Caesar also had an open wound on the side of her body.
The wound was purposely inflicted in order to retract bile out of her gallbladder. You might ask yourself why someone would inflict such pain on an innocent bear’s gallbladder?
Bear bile is being used for the production of certain traditional Chinese medicine. Sadly, this is a very common practice in China.
“Caesar arrived in 2004 after years spent trapped by a ‘full metal jacket’ – the worst imaginable bile farm torture,” writes the organization Animal Asia, whom saved Caesar from her horror.
Caesar was one of several lucky bears that the organization managed to rescue from a long life of torture, pain and misery. It’s now been years since they rescued the happy bear and she has been livng in the wilderness in Chengdu since. Here’s what Animal Asia have to say about her nowadays:
“To see her out in the sunshine – a dozen years on from her rescue – it’s hard to imagine her existence back then,” Animal Asia wrote. “That huge presence trapped in such a tiny, confining space. We’re honoured to be able to provide her a better life, and watching her enjoy her surroundings every day is an absolute pleasure.”
It’s so nice to see this sweet bear roam around free in the water after all the suffering she’s been through.
When she was first found, Caesar had lost almost all her fur and was very weak, but take a look at her now in the video below.
“This incredible footage of her shaking herself dry shows off her magnificent coat and her full near- 300 kilo size. Caesar is a mammoth bear,” says Animal Asia.
Even though Caesar’s story has a happy ending, it is important to remember how much work there still is to put an end to these types of animal cruelties and torture. In China, there is an estimated 10,000 bears potentially locked up. Hopefully, Caesar’s story can enlighten some and unite animal lovers to fight this type of torture.
No animal deserves to be treated this way. On Animal Asia’s website, you can donate to help them continue their work. Please help share this story to alert more people about the situation of Chinese bears.