As a team of Animals Asia vets descended on Nanning for a third week of health checks, former breeding bear Snip was one of those to benefit.

A third vet trip to Nanning concluded last week with eight bears receiving a thorough examination to rule out potentially life-threatening conditions and give immediate pain relief.

Distinctive male Snip, easily identified by the snip of white fur on his nose, his dipping crescent and tattered ears, was one of the lucky bears this time round.

Kept in a separate enclosure with five other males, Snip caused concern by failing to put on weight many months after Animals Asia staff had implemented a healthy and nutritious diet.

Failure to hold weight is often symptomatic of serious underlying conditions such as tumors and cancers found in large numbers of former bile bears.

Bear Worker Ruan Chaoxi said:

"Snip is really active. When he is in the enclosure he rarely rests, preferring to climb around a lot, including on the fake rocks. He is a friendly bear to bear workers he knows, but is sometimes suspicious of people he hasn't met before. He enjoys a shower and loves to play with water, but is worrying the team because he is so skinny."

Weighing just 70kg rather than a healthy 130kg, vets were understandably anxious to give Snip a thorough health check.

Thankfully, staff were able to breathe sighs of relief as an ultrasound ruled out any obvious life threatening conditions for Snip.

The examination did reveal a badly broken and infected canine which vets were able to remove. It's hoped that with this painful tooth extracted, Snip will be able to eat more comfortably and put on weight.

Senior Bear Manager Heidi Quine said:

"It's great news to find out that Snip was probably never subjected to bile extraction on the farm and now – with his painful teeth removed – we hope to see him go from strength to strength."

Animals Asia founder and CEO, Jill Robinson MBE, said:

"Once again credit has to go to our excellent vet teams for their efforts to push ahead with these health checks in conditions that are far from ideal. While we remain unable to move the most needy bears to our rescue centre in Chengdu we'll continue to give all of the bears the health care they need here in Nanning."

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