A post shared by Animals Asia (@animalsasia) on Feb 21, 2017 at 7:46pm PST

Dorle loves the sound of breaking bamboo and she’s having fun smashing her sanctuary knowing that by tomorrow, her carers will have rebuilt it all.

Blind sun bear Dorle had an awful start in life. She was poached from the wild as a cub and trafficked from Laos to Vietnam by a timber merchant.

When she became stronger and started attacking her owners she was sent to live in a tiny cage outside a truckers’ restaurant, just 50 metres from the busiest highway in Vietnam.

She was fed table scraps and cakes, and spent most days vainly trying to chew her way to freedom. Sadly, these poor conditions and lack of care took its toll on poor Dorle. Rescuers found her with fractured teeth and gums so rotten pus was dripping from her mouth. 

Thankfully, that life ended in 2010 when she was rescued and brought to Animals Asia’s sanctuary.

Since then she has joined a community of seven sun bears rescued from poachers and the bile trade. And while Dorle’s sight has deteriorated over the years to near total blindness, today she and her friends forage and play together as a family, with Dorle’s ability to wrestle her friends and find food unhampered by her condition.

While efforts have been made to restore Dorle’s sight, eye specialists believe she may never regain the ability to see. Not that you’d know it from Dorle’s lust for life.

Animals Asia Bear Manager Kelly Donithan said:

“Dorle still happily wrestles with bear friends David and Nelson and has no problem finding enough food round the enclosure through her sense of smell.

“So it was lovely to see her having so much fun breaking the bamboo tree protectors recently. She clearly loved the cracking sound and enjoyed the feel of breaking pieces off. The team will have to fix it again of course, but that’s something we’re always willing to do. The important thing is Dorle is active, happy and enjoying herself every single day. She’s having a great time – long may that continue.” 

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