Happy #sunbearmonday!

We’d like to dedicate this #sunbearmonday to sun bear Greir and the many disabled bears like her at our sanctuaries in Vietnam and China who refuse to let their disabilities hold them back.

Despite her blindness, Greir is an active and fun-loving bear and – as you can see from this film – she doesn’t give up.

Opening a coconut isn’t easy for bears, but that’s not stopping Greir from giving it a good go!

Greir has a history of medical issues from irreversible blindness due to degenerative changes in her retinas to suffering a surprising and worrying stroke-like incident in 2011.

The incident left Greir with inhibited movement in her right side for a number of months but control has thankfully returned with time.

Bear and Vet Team Director Annemarie Weegenaar said:

“Greir is such an inspiration – no matter what challenges she faces, from being incarcerated and having her bile extracted on a bear bile farm to suffering health issues such as blindness and a stroke-like incident, she just never gives up and keeps on enjoying life. To this day she still has a slight twist in one of her front legs from the event in 2011, but you wouldn’t notice it if you didn’t know her – she’s a true survivor!”

It’s with great pride that we dedicate this #sunbearmonday to Greir and those like her overcoming their disabilities day after day.

The music in the film is "Adventure, Darling" by Gillicuddy. It is available for purchase at www.gillicuddy.com and is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Germany License (CC BY-NC)

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