This picture of five young moon bears having a pool party is overflowing with joy.

Each beautiful bear seen here enjoying a carefree and innocent splash was literally headed for bile farms where they would have been subjected to a lifetime of cruel, painful bile extraction.

Thanks to Animals Asia and its incredible supporters, each one was rescued and now lives out their days in the peace and safety of our Vietnam sanctuary.

Download the picture free here. Bears pictured from left to right.

Meet the moon bear pool party crowd:

Thomas

Rescued from poachers alongside sister Xin Xin in 2010 as three-month-old cubs, Thomas has thankfully only ever known sanctuary life. He has been spared the awful torture of bear bile farming and instead is free to play, forage and express his natural behaviour at the rescue centre.

Xin Xin

When rescued from Dien Bien province – on the border with Laos and China – tiny cub Xin Xin weighed just 5kg. She and her brother were doubtless destined for bear bile farms in Vietnam or China having been poached from the jungles of Laos. Thankfully, Xin Xin is now free to spend her days playing with friends and thinking up innovative new ways to use the sanctuary furniture.

Tieu Long

Tieu Long’s name means, “little dragon” and his character has blossomed in to the happiest little dragon of all. Since arriving at VBRC in 2012 as a scared young cub, Tieu Long soon showed his heroic side, bravely taking his first steps outside and, despite often being smaller than his peers, making firm friends with the other bears.

Georges

When poor Georges arrived in 2011, staff were heart-broken to see the tiny cub already exhibiting the repetitive behaviours often seen in long-suffering and deeply-stressed adult bears. Thankfully, a stress-free sanctuary life, and some quality time in the swimming pool saw one paper name him “the happiest bear in the world” as a video of him splashing in his tub went viral.

Baruffa

Poor Baruffa was another near victim of the bile trade, discovered by the authorities in Vietnam’s far-northern Dien Bien province. Rescued alongside Georges, Baruffa has slowly learnt how to be a bear again thanks to long days spent wrestling on the grass – or mud – with a community of friends.

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