To mark 20 years since our founder Jill Robinson first visited a bear bile farm we are selling 100 copies of "Jasper's Story" through our website, with all proceeds going to our work. The book is also available through regular retailers, with 90% of royalties from sales going to Animals Asia.

Jill Robinson MBE, founder and CEO of animal welfare organisation Animals Asia, has written a children’s book about Jasper, one of the bears she helped rescue from China’s horrific bear bile industry. 

The book, which is being published in the US, and is available on the Animals Asia website here, has been co-written by Jill and renowned animal behaviour expert, Professor Marc Bekoff, of the University of Colorado. 

For years Jasper, an Asiatic black bear (better known as a moon bear because of the crescent-shaped moon on their chests), lived a miserable existence, held captive in a cage by bear bile farmers in rural China. The farmers extracted the bile from Jasper's body and sold it to be used in traditional medicines. The horrific practice is conducted on thousands of moon bears each year. 

In 2000, Jasper was rescued and he and other bears were taken to Animals Asia’s China bear rescue centre. Here vets attended to the bears' wounds, hoping to give them some chance of a peaceful existence in the animal sanctuary. The book explores whether, after so many years of abuse, Jasper's wounds, both physical and mental, can be mended so he can finally enjoy the life he was meant to live.