Jeremy Higgs

Through the charitable donations given by the Green Dragon Fund I have been extraordinarily fortunate to become closely associated with Animals Asia and Jill Robinson. And in particular with the real achievements emanating from setting up the first bear sanctuary at Tam Dao in 2008, as a first step towards achieving the overall strategic objective of ending the cruel practice of bear bile farming in Vietnam.

In 2012 I was hugely honoured to have been appointed Guardian of Tieu Long, meaning “Little Dragon”. He was a 12 kg moon bear cub who had been cruelly separated from his mother at an early age and, before Jill’s timely and caring intervention, was destined for a lifetime of suffering and confinement in a cage on a bear farm in Vietnam.

Now, nearly a decade later, the vivacious Tieu Long has thrived into becoming a very happy 125 kg mature moon bear, having been nurtured through so much love and care professionally provided by the wonderful Animals Asia team at the Tam Dao bear sanctuary. It it not only one of the greatest privileges to have been associated with the bear rescue and conservation successes of Jill and her team in Vietnam but also, as a Bear Guardian, to experience the immense joy of sharing the life journey of one particular small bear—Tieu Long.

As the Tam Dao sanctuary now nears full capacity of around 200 rescued bears, Animals Asia is presently working towards opening a second bear rescue sanctuary situated in the beautiful Bach Ma National Park. By sharing the vision of Animals Asia and supporting the wonderful ambition of ending bear farming in Vietnam forever, I can promise that potential donors and Guardians of the bears that will call Bach Ma “home”, will not only be rewarded with a huge sense of personal achievement from helping to bring about an end to the bear bile trade in Vietnam, but will also have the chance to be touched deep in their soul through close interaction with those very bears that have been saved from this most inhumane of practices.