While confinement and isolation is very new to most of us, for one lonely soul in the border region of Gia Lai province in Vietnam, this isolation, boredom and fear reaches back as far as she can remember. For fourteen years or more, she has been held captive in a barren cage, robbed of her freedom and dignity.

Worse still she has been within hours of rescue before restrictions caused by coronavirus sabotaged a first attempt at rescue. Frustrated by the delay the team at Animals Asia’s sanctuary planted a cotton blossom tree on the grounds of the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre as a promise to this bear that we would never forget about her or leave her behind. Now, three months later, we’re keeping that promise, we’re going back to get her! A bear now called Cotton Blossom.

With Animals Asia’s rescue team in action, this is the very start of a new life for this poor bear. New tastes, new sensations, new experiences, new environments and new friendships all await her now. And hopefully with enough love and time, all the suffering, pain, anger and fear will fade into distant memories.

Coronavirus has created fear, panic, loss and heartbreak all around the world. The sense of isolation and helplessness can be overwhelming. But we all take strength from the glimmers of hope, the snippets of kindness that remind us that we can get through this terrible ordeal –  with courage and tenacity, we will reach the light at the end of the tunnel. 

You are the ray of sunshine she has been waiting for. This rescue is Cotton Blossom’s reward for her courage and tenacity that has helped her survive. Please donate today to support the rescue which takes our rescue team to a remote location; a military outpost on the Cambodian border. The rescue is only the beginning for Cotton Blossom, when she finally arrives at the sanctuary in several days time, she will need ongoing support and love to overcome nearly a decade and a half of neglect and confinement.

Back at her new home at the award-winning Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre in Tam Dao National Park, preparations are being made for her arrival. Her bed is being made, a nutritious and varied feast to celebrate is being prepared and the team are carefully devising an enrichment plan that will begin her rehabilitation.

For fourteen years she has endured a dark, dark winter, but now we welcome her to her new life, and look forward to seeing her bloom, like a cotton blossom in spring.

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