Many of you will know a special friend of ours - and particularly a special friend of Jasper the moon bear - the very lovely Marc Bekoff.

Marc has an impressive career in animal behaviour and ethology and has been out to our Chengdu Bear Rescue Centre several times. Throughout these years he has also very kindly promoted the plight of bile farm bears in his many books (both academic and children's) and in his frequent presentations across the world.

Today, it gives me great pleasure to pass the blog over to Marc — and his incredibly meaningful work with inmates at the Boulder County Jail, where he features the artwork of Michael, whose impressive talent showcases.......yes you've guessed it, Jasper the bear.

Here's Marc:

For 14 years I've been teaching a class on animal behavior and conservation at the Boulder (Colorado) County Jail as part of Jane Goodall's global Roots & Shoots program. Many of the inmates are concerned about animal abuse and over the years one of their favorite organizations is Animals Asia. They love the work that Jill and her colleagues are doing and recently were thrilled to learn about the rescue of bears from a bear farm as part of Animal Asia's commitment to end bear bile farming.

In the past they have written letters of support for this campaign and just this past week, one of the students, Michael Stuchel, drew this beautiful picture of handsome Jasper, one of my best bear friends and about whom Jill and I wrote an award-winning children's book called Jasper's story: Saving moon bears.

Of course, heartthrob Jasper doesn't need any more kudos or press for his head is already too big, as are his lovely ears. Nonetheless, I'm pleased to share Michael's lovely drawing with you. And, thank you all for supporting Animal Asia's unfailing commitment to end bear bile farming.

Blessings to you all.

Dr. Marc Bekoff
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado 80309-0334 USA

Homepage: marcbekoff.com/
Marc Bekoff and Jane Goodall (EETA): www.ethologicalethics.org
Marc Bekoff Central: http://www.yourcybercourt.info/Bekoff/marcbekoffcentral.html
Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions
The DoDo: www.thedodo.com/community/marcbekoff/
Boulder Orthopedics Cycling Team

Mark’s latest books are:
Kids & animals, Marc Bekoff, Foreword by Jane Goodall
Jasper's story: Saving moon bears, by Jill Robinson and Marc Bekoff
Ignoring nature no more: The case for compassionate conservation, edited by Marc Bekoff
Why dogs hump and bees get depressed, by Marc Bekoff
Rewilding Our Hearts: Building Pathways of Compassion and Coexistence, by Marc Bekoff (publication in fall 2014)