In 1993, while with the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Jill Robison of the UK made the acquaintance of Andrew, a black bear that was suffering through an unpleasant existence at an acrobatics troupe, in Guangzhou. From that moment, her life was changed forever. To rescue other Asiatic black bears, she established the Animals Asia Foundation and undertook a more specialized mission in life.

On an early spring day, a black bear lay on an operating table at the Asiatic Black Bear Rescue Center in southwestern China's Sichuan Province. The British veterinarian-in-chief, and other doctors from the Animals Asia Foundation, were at work carefully removing the catheter implanted in the bear's abdomen, as well as its infected gallbladder.

The patient was one of the more than 40 Asiatic black bears rescued from the Sichuan Bear Farm the prior month. During the entire nine-hour operation, Jill Robinson remained nearby, watching like a mother would watch over her ailing son.

As the founder of the Asiatic Black Bear Rescue Center, Robinson has become known in China as the "foreign mother of Chinese bears." And her own country has bestowed upon her the Order of the British Empire (OBM).

The Asiatic black bear, also known as the moon bear for the yellow crescent of fur splashed across its chest, is one of the eight major subspecies of bears in the world. Excepting the panda, other subspecies of bears, particularly the moon bear, are facing a massive decrease in number due to the trade of bear bile. Subsequently, the moon bear was listed as one of the animals under first-class protection, according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. In China, the moon bear is now under second-class protection.

At present, there remain only 25,000 moon bears globally. Over 10,000 of those live within the territory of China. According to government statistics, more than 7,000 moon bears are caged in bile-collecting bear farms in China.

In China, the collection of bear bile dates back more than 1,000 years. In the 1980s, some Asian countries invented the technique of extracting bile from living bears. "Bear farming was first introduced into China in 1983 and witnessed a rapid development three years later," said Deng Suixiang, director of the Wildlife Protection Office of the Sichuan Provincial Forestry Department. "In 1989, China's first Law on the Protection of Wild Animals was enacted."

The primary intention of bear farming was to satisfy the demands for bear bile on the medicine market and to protect wild bears from poaching. A farmed bear can produce a volume of bile equivalent to 40 wild bears. At the age of three, a farmed bear begins to supply bile for extraction, and continues until it matures to ten years of age. It had been expected that wild bears would be protected in this way. However, the fact is that the demand for wild bears have thus been encouraged. According to statistics, from 1984 to 1989, each year some 1,000 wild bears were incarcerated in bear farms.

However, the Chinese government soon cracked down on bear farming and has taken active measures to rescue the Asiatic black bear. In July 2000, the China Wildlife Conservation Association, the Sichuan Provincial Forestry Department and the Animals Asia Foundation signed an agreement on black bear rescue. The unprecedented agreement is the first ratified by and between Chinese authorities and an overseas animal welfare organization.

According to the agreement, the Animals Asia Foundation will compensate farms that release their bears. The provincial government of Sichuan will transfer the licenses of closed bear farms to the Animals Asia Foundation and, in light of state regulations, no more such licenses will be issued. The three parties have also reached consensus on supporting the research and production of the substitutes for bear bile and encouraging customers to refuse products made of bear bile. The final goal of the black bear rescue campaign is to eliminate bear farming in China.

In December 2000, the Asiatic Black Bear Rescue Center was established under the sponsorship of Robinson. Thanks to the joint efforts of the Sichuan Provincial Forestry Department and the Animals Asia Foundation, a total of 84 bears, including Andrew, have been rescued from bear farms and their lives of otherwise miserable captivity.

The rescue campaign has also created greater public awareness concerning the plight of these animals. Owing to the efforts of governmental departments and nongovernmental organizations, China has closed several bear farms with the worst conditions and particularly established recovery centers for rescued bears. The rescue campaign has won support from associations of traditional Chinese medicine in China's mainland, Hong Kong and Britain.

There may be no chance for our decedents to remedy mistakes made today. In the southern suburb of Beijing, there is a cemetery for extinct animals. Many species that once walked upon this beautiful planet are gone forever, and these cold stone tablets mark their sad passing.

For Robinson, the rescue of remaining species is a personal mission. "At some special moments in your life," she says, "you will hear the voice of destiny calling and you cannot say no."

(China Pictorial June 28, 2005)