This Moon Bear Spent Most of Her Life Locked in a Cage for the Bile Industry. Now She’s Free to Splash Around in Her Pool! (VIDEO)

It is no secret that bears love to swim. But for Amara, a moon bear who was rescued from a cruel bile farm, swimming is only one of the great things that her new life has to offer.

Bear bile farming is a cruel industry that harvests the bile from the gallbladders of  Asian Black bears for a traditional Chinese medicine. While they are still alive! These poor animals are captured from the wild as cubs, then crammed into impossibly tiny cages, where they are repeatedly stabbed by sharp objects to access their gallbladders. If this seems unbelievably painful, it is and many bears die a horribly painful death, after living this horribly painful life. Luckily, organizations like Animals Asia exist to rescue bile bears and give them a second chance.

When Amara first arrived at Animals Asia’s Vietnam bear sanctuary four years ago, she was timid from years of suffering and abuse. Her first challenge was learning to eat anything other than rice gruel, which  is the only food that bile bears get. Her development was slow, but eventually she learned to enjoy the tasty addition of fruits and vegetables into her diet. Nowadays, she eats with excitement and looks forward to relaxing days like this, when she can enjoy some quality time, splashing in the pool.

If you would like to help Animals Asia in their efforts by sponsoring a bear like Amara, please visit their website by clicking here.