Bears are highly intelligent animals, yet Caesar the bear spent her early life in “hell on earth.” In China, she was kept on a bile farm where her gallbladder fluid was drained for traditional medicine. She was trapped in a tight metal vest with “a spike pointed at her neck” to prevent her from removing it. Animals Asia described it as “the worst imaginable bile farm torture.”

In 2004, Caesar was rescued by Animals Asia. Though severely injured, she was freed from the torture vest and finally cared for. She transformed into a “powerful, majestic bear with a gorgeous, glowing coat,” weighing 300 kg. Her favorite pastimes became swimming, digging, and sunbathing. “To see her out in the sunshine – a dozen years on from her rescue – it’s hard to imagine her existence back then,” said Nic Field of Animals Asia.

Caesar enjoyed 13 years of freedom, but the damage from bile farming caught up with her. She developed an aggressive tumor linked to years of abuse and eventually died.

Her story highlights the suffering of the estimated 10,000 bears still held on bile farms. “We must stop until all bears are released,” Animals Asia urged.