This undernourished, nervous female lives near the end of Shed 2, a lonely place even by the standards of the isolated Nanning Bear Farm.

She is a beautiful bear with a striking white goatee, gentle demeanour and eye-catchingly long whiskers.

But she is scarred too – by a slight bald patch on her forehead and marks on both ears from futilely rubbing herself against her cage bars.

She’s never had anything else to do.

But with temperatures regularly reaching upwards of 35C, nothing feels better to bears like her than a cold shower.

Now when Animals Asia bear team members walk past with the hose she comes to her gate expectantly, imploring them to drench her in refreshing cold water.

Once the hose is on her, she sits up on her hind legs to let the water run down her hot chest and belly, then falls over on to her back so that the cooling water runs down her body and pools around her. She moves onto her side — facing the hose — so that she can splash more water on to herself, rocking her body and lifting her feet in delight.

In all the years she has spent on the farm, little moments of happiness and stimulation like this never used to happen.

They do now.

Happy #moonbearmonday everyone!

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