2014: our greatest year in numbers

What did Animals Asia do in 2014? Let the numbers speak for themselves…

In Nanning, China, Animals Asia rescued 130 bears who had been living lives of pain and suffering on a bear farm, committing to convert the farm into a sanctuary as part of the Peace by Piece project - an unprecedented effort that could inspire the end of bear bile farming. In itself it is the largest bear rescue ever undertaken.

Our "Let a Bear Sh!t in the Woods" campaign reached an audience of more than 40 million people worldwide, and generated over $1 million worth of media coverage.

Please RT & take the pledge http://t.co/s8WqMGdO7G moonbears in the care of #animalsasia need support. Thank you :) pic.twitter.com/em8GD0ToFe
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) September 7, 2014

At our Vietnam sanctuary more than 40,000kg of leafy browse was offered for the bears' enjoyment, including approximately 5,800kg of lush banana leaves—a bear favorite.

2014 brought huge celebrity support for Animals Asia with more than 30 internationally-acclaimed stars standing up and speaking out for the bears, including Ricky Gervais, Karen Mok, Lesley Nicol and the cast of "Downton Abbey", Peter Egan, Olivia Newton-John, Ali MacGraw, Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses), Dame Judi Dench, Ian Somerhalder, Alicia Silverstone, Moby, Tony Kanal (No Doubt), Brian May (Queen), and Ben Elton.

2,476 people visited the bears at our Vietnam sanctuary.
30,000 brochures about bear bile farming were given out to tourists and residents in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

Nearly 1 million minutes of footage were watched on the Animals Asia Youtube channel – while our most popular video "Meet Smudge" was played nearly 370,000 times.

UK supporters hit the ground running, taking a total of approximately 1,914,000 steps in efforts to raise funds for Animals Asia. That's roughly the distance from Land's End to John O'Groats - the full length of Great Britain.
Our Cat and Dog Welfare Public Education events in China saw the participation of 49,220 people. Imagine a full stadium of dog and cat lovers.
Bears living at our China sanctuary were served up 32,850 delicious shakes… yum!
In China 1,685 drug stores, 4 pharmaceutical manufacturers, and 2 hospitals stopped selling and producing bear bile with 218 representatives from the medical community pledging not to use it. Because of this, more than 2,500,000 RMB worth of bear bile products are now off the market per year.

The bears at Nanning have chomped 103,841kg of fresh vegetables since we began working with them in May

Animals Asia supporter Su Dan sang a song about the plight of the moon bears on the massively popular TV show in China, "Sing My Song" (similar to "The X-Factor") that was seen by 25,000,000 people.

Over 15,000 leaflets on cockfighting, animal performances, and snake bile were delivered to the general public in Vietnam.
Our Professor Paws therapy dogs made 52 visits to 48 schools in mainland China, with a total of 5,047 students making friends with the cuddly canines and taking the accompanying companion animal education course. Through the visits 13,750 leaflets were distributed to students and their parents.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong – our Professor Paws dogs made 110 visits to 59 schools and education facilities, giving presentations and delivering the Care Cadet programme to around 9,000 students.
In Italy, responding to the passing of beloved brown bear Oliver, 3 national TV networks broadcast coverage of Animals Asia 6 times in 2 weeks, reaching 12 million people.

Working with the Beijing Zoo and Hangzhou Airport in China, we launched anti-animal performance poster exhibitions and advertising campaigns to reach more than 24,000,000 people.

Our "Together We Can Save Vietnam's Bears" drawing competition saw entries from 866 school children.
Presentations on animal welfare concepts in veterinary education were delivered to over 500 vets in China.
We worked with Sohu and Sina, the top portal websites in China, to reach more than 22,000,000 people.
We launched a nationwide competition in Vietnam among 60,000 traditional medicine doctors to promote the use of 32 cruelty-free herbal alternatives to bear bile.
Celebrity chef and Animals Asia Australian Ambassador Simon Bryant spent 12 hours in a bear cage in Melbourne, Australia to raise awareness about the plight of the bears.

Animals Asia's 6^th China Dog Ownership Management Symposium, with co-organizer Humane Society International, saw more than 150 representatives from government departments and animal protection groups from 43 cities throughout China sit down to communicate about dog-related issues. Since the event's inception, more than 320 staff from the governments of 46 cities have been trained at the symposiums.

In Canada, supporters did 150 "downward dogs" and a total of 90 bear poses at the funds and awareness-raising yoga event Boogie for Bears.
We held 102 Anti-Animal Performance poster exhibitions in China that reached more than 11,000 people.
Four TV shows in China profiled our work, spreading Animals Asia's message to 29,697,000 people.
Our Doctor Dogs visited 43 nursing homes and centers for special needs children, providing therapy for 2,965 people in mainland China.

In Hong Kong, Doctor Dog made 214 visits, benefiting around 11,000 people of all ages.
34 Anti-Animal Performance regional campaigns in China saw the Tianjin Zoo stop elephant performances, the Bifengxia Safari Park commit to not using elephants for photos with the public, and stopped the Russian State Circus in Hangzhou, Jinhua, and Nanjing.
265,088 compassionate people from around the world signed our petitions to put an end to bear bile farming.
In North America we hosted 25 events attended by over 4,000 people, and participated in an additional 17 public events attended by more than 20,000 people.
In collaboration with world famous super-brand Hello Kitty, 3 products were produced featuring Animals Asia mascot Moonie moon bear, which can now be purchased at over 100 malls throughout China reaching millions of potential customers.

Vietnamese television covered Animals Asia's work in-depth 27 times.
A generous supporter donated more than 100 pools for the bears at Nanning – the former bear bile farm Animals Asia is converting to a sanctuary – to splash in.
When Animals Asia superstar supporter Ricky Gervais heard the news that his adopted bear, Derek, was among those receiving pools he tweeted his delighted to his 6.5 million followers and this clip "looped" nearly 75,000 times.

Our Anti-Animal Cruelty campaign's petition in Vietnam to end the Nem Thuong Pig Slaughter Festival was signed by over 4,000 people. The signatures were sent to the President's office, the Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism, and the Director of Culture, Sport, and Tourism.
Our Vietnam sanctuary's kitchen froze over 11,400 chilly ice blocks to help the bears cool down on steamy tropical days.
Our Captive Animal Management programme delivered animal management training to over 700 Chinese zoo staff.
We took part in 17 outreach events in China, including campus activities, music festivals, and environmental exhibitions, reaching approximately 500,000 new supporters.
On November 11, 3 Animals Asia representatives joined the Sichuan TV show "China Positive Power" speaking about our work to an audience of more than 3,000,000.

Our China sanctuary organised 38 school activities, teaching 49,500 students about the plight of the bears and our work to save them. With each student promising to tell 3 others what they were taught, the message could potentially reach another 148,500 people.
In Vietnam, our local school outreach program included 24 presentations at 5 Tam Dao schools, reaching a total of 1,062 young students.

Cataracts were removed from VBRC resident James bear's 2 beautiful bear eyes, curing him of his blindness, and allowing him to see his glorious new life at the sanctuary for the very first time.