After up to 30 years suffering in tiny cages it's down to the "heroes of horticulture" to build gyms for bears rescued from bear bile farms to get them up and active again.

Integral to rescued bears' recovery, the horticulture team are constantly coming up with new ways to stimulate, entertain and challenge these damaged animals.

Years of bile extraction can leave bears suffering from a number of physical problems. They can be over or under weight, lacking muscle mass or suffering from arthritis.

Animals Asia Bear Manager Sarah Dempsey said:

"The horticulture team are incredible. They not only build amazing structures and keep the enclosures to a standard befitting these beautiful bears – they're also constantly repairing and rebuilding. It's not like building children's play areas – when your customers are moon bears, the structures have to be super-durable and easily repaired."

Once rescued, ex-bile farm bears like these need plenty of opportunities to climb, play, forage and generally be able to exhibit as many natural behaviours as possible. As well as helping their shattered bodies to recover, this stimulation is also designed to help them get over the psychological damage of a lifetime in a cage.

Providing these opportunities is the horticulture team, responsible for the construction and maintenance of all enclosure furniture. These moon bear heroes are constantly thinking of new ways to make the bears' lives as stimulating as possible.

A variety of climbing frames help the bears to build strength, while all manner of puzzle feeders encourage the bears to consider the best way to get food out of a particular toy. And, when the bears are feeling tired after all their hard work – they can take a nap on a specially made fire-hose hammock.

The horticulture team has to balance creativity with the safety of the bears and also the local availability of certain materials.

Sarah Dempsey said:

"Many of the tools, materials and pre-made toys available in western countries are not so accessible here which means the team have to be extra creative when it comes to making equivalents from easily sourced local material such as bamboo and eucalyptus logs.

"It is amazing how adaptive they can be. Their creativity is evident in the sheer variety of weird and wonderful puzzle feeders and structures they produce. These guys do as much as anyone to improve the lives of the bears in our sanctuaries."

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