Dawn the moon bear is thriving at Animals Asia’s Tam Dao sanctuary in Vietnam after her rescue from a bear bile farm
Dawn the moon bear is a reminder that every creature deserves a second chance.
On February 22, 2023, Animals Asia rescued Dawn from a bile farm— a facility where a bear’s bile is painfully extracted while the animal is confined to a cage — in Phung Thuong, Vietnam.
Before the nonprofit arrived, Dawn spent 20 years in a small cage at the bile farm, undergoing routine bile extractions. Life on the bile farm left Dawn balding, fearful, and emotionally helpless. Animals Asia said the moon bear was “the most traumatized bear” the organization had seen when they rescued her in 2023.
Over a year later, Dawn is one of the happiest bears at Animals Asia’s Tam Dao sanctuary in Vietnam. To celebrate Dawn’s transformation and May 17’s Endangered Species Day, Dame Joanna Lumley created a video with Animal Asia about the resilient moon bear.
In the moving clip, Lumley recounts Dawn’s devastating beginnings and the many milestones the bear surpassed to reach where she is today.
“Seeing Dawn’s transformation from a life of darkness to one of hope and happiness is a profound reminder of the resilience of those magnificent animals and the power of compassion,” Lumley said in a statement.
“This video not only tells the story of one bear’s journey to freedom but also calls on each of us to act and help end the cruelty of bile farming. I am so proud to stand with Animals Asia, an organization poised to eradicate the centuries-long practice of bile farming in Vietnam and rescue the remaining bile bears in the country. Together, by supporting this vital cause, we can provide these endangered animals with the dignified life they rightfully deserve.”
Animals Asia believes bear bile farmers placed Dawn in a dark, cramped cage when she was a cub and kept the bear there for 20 years until her rescue. When Animals Asia went to transport the cub to its sanctuary, employees found a bear distressed by the sight of humans after a lifetime of neglect.
Dawn exhibited signs of psychological trauma — like head-swaying and a “learned helplessness” that left the moon bear curled up in a tight ball at the slightest provocation. Animals Asia also found evidence of physical injuries, including hypertension, broken teeth, arthritis, an infected gallbladder, and malnourishment.
After 20 years in her tiny cage, Dawn finally left and moved into the quarantine area of Animals Asia’s Tam Dao sanctuary, where she stayed for 60 days. Despite having a much larger space, several dedicated caretakers, and plenty of food, Dawn struggled to adapt to her new surroundings at first because of the trauma she endured.
“While she is often calm, engages well with enrichment activities, and will even hand-feed, she can become overwhelmed in certain situations and completely shuts down.
In these moments, she retreats to a corner, turns her back to whatever frightens her, tucks her head into her abdomen, curls up into a ball, and visibly flinches at any noises while in this state. It is one of the worst things I have seen in my time here, how incredibly fearful and shut down she is in these situations.
Dawn has obviously learned this: no matter what she does, terrible things will keep happening to her,” Sarah van Herpt, Animals Asia senior bear team manager, shared after the moon bear arrived at the sanctuary.
Thankfully, through patience and compassion, the staff at Aniamls Asia taught Dawn that the “terrible things” she went through had ended. In Spring 2023, Dawn started smiling and acting more social with her human caretakers, who worked to gain the bear’s trust through rapport-building sessions with lots of treats.
Many more firsts followed Dawn’s initial smile. In May 2023, the moon bear was released from the quarantine area and moved into her new den at the sanctuary. Shortly after that, Dawn luxuriated in her first bath. In June 2023, after undergoing dental surgery, Dawn started to eat solid food. In the Summer of 2023, Dawn began making friends with a few other bears at the sanctuary and took her first steps outside.
After all these milestones, Dawn is a far different bear than when she first arrived at Animals Asia’s sanctuary in 2023. She has grown back all her fur, exhibits curiosity and playfulness, and trusts that the humans around her are there to care for her—and they are!
“It’s hard to believe Dawn is the same frightened little bear who came through the sanctuary gates just over a year ago.” Jill Robinson, Animals Asia’s founder, said. “Today, she has a life she never dared dream of: grass under her paws, the breeze ruffling her fur, and a love she’d never known warming her heart. Dawn’s journey is a testament to the resilience of the spirit and the healing power of kindness.”
Animals Asia is working to bring this kind of happy ending to all the bears stuck in bile farms in Vietnam. In 2017, after years of negotiation with Animals Asia, the Vietnamese government agreed to end bear bile farming and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Animals Asia, naming the charity their official partner in closing the industry.
Since then, Animals Asia has been working to move all the bears remaining on bile farms to its sanctuaries. In November 2023, Animals Asia opened its second sanctuary in Vietnam. Once this sanctuary is full, Animals Asia estimates that no more bears will be trapped in bile farms in Vietnam.
