Happy #MoonBearMonday everyone!

Moon bear Vandrew is undoubtedly a very special bear indeed.

This is a bear with every right to feel hard done by.

When rescued from a bile farm in Vietnam’s Halong Bay five years ago, Vandrew was in a terrible state.

It’s not uncommon for bile farm bears to be missing paws as a result of hunter’s snares, but Vandrew was missing an entire limb.

His rugged good looks and missing limb – so reminiscent of Animals Asia’s first rescued bear Andrew in China – made Vietnam Andrew, or Vandrew. the obvious choice of name for the beautiful bear blinking at us in Vietnam.

He was also suffering from chronic pain from an irreversibly damaged eye while his gall bladder and even his liver were brutally scarred from repetitive puncturing of the abdomen to extract bile.

With a ravaged gall bladder and infected eye removed, five years down the line, Vandrew is a totally different bear from the poor soul so mistreated on a bile farm.

He may be missing an arm, an eye and a gall bladder, but this bear still has an enormous heart and a perfect smile.

Wishing everyone a happy #MoonBearMonday and a wonderful week.

Animals Asia is indebted to photographer Peter Yuen who donated his time, expertise and incredible photos to this article. Click here for more on Peter’s work around Asia, or visit his website.

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