Hampi, renowned for its rich history as the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565, is also celebrated as the birthplace of Lord Hanuman and a key setting in the Ramayana. Yet, amidst its ancient ruins and cultural grandeur lies a hidden gem—a thriving wildlife sanctuary.

https://www.animalsasia.org/ - @animalsasia #animalsasiafoundation #bearbilefarming #bearsanctuary #captiveanimalwelfare #charity #wildlife #positivevibes #positivewaves #metalhobbit - PLEASE DONATE (at Birmingham, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPXyu1MpghP/?utm_medium=tumblr

Was sent some pictures of my adopted boy Hansel enjoying the snow in Romania :3 #bearsanctuary #bearsanctuaryromania #libeartybearsanctuary

The bear sanctuary in Luang Prabang stole my heart away. I was so excited about it and conveniently, it was located at the entrance to some spectacular waterfalls which is what most go to see. So the day after checking in, I headed up to the waterfalls and spent almost half my time at the bear portion! (The waterfalls are also spectacular and well worth the visit.) Free the Bears is an organisation that works in several countries to rescue bears from adverse conditions. Every country has it’s own problems - in Indonesia it’s the forest fires, in India it’s circus bears (which is barely a problem anymore). In Laos, the main problem is that the bears are trapped in bar camps which means they are basically put in a tiny cage and bile is extracted from their body every other day - essentially reopening a wound every other day - one can only imagine how painful this is! There’s a belief that the bile has medicinal properties. Although this practice is illegal, it is not rigorously enforced in Laos. But Free the Bears works with the government to try and develop a strategy for this while also maintaining the conservatory. I was told that some of the bears even develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with one bear knocking it’s teeth out and another falling from a tree, and some need to be kept in special conditions to overcome trauma. Free the Bears believe in no physical human interaction as the ultimate aim is to re-release the bears back into the wild and they don’t want them imprinting humans. But you can feed them by throwing food across the fence and stand and watch them - they eat, play, climb trees and sleep and really have the life! Male and female bears are kept separate as taking care of the existing bears already proves to be difficult financially - forget more bears! I went to the area where the cubs were kept as well and one of them came up to me and put his palm against mine (on the glass) - I could swear we had a connection! Free the Bears attempted a release effort in the past, and, despite much research and investment, it failed. They educated the communities, they left an open cage with food in the middle so that the bears could venture out and then come back in for safety, they had CCTV cameras set up; and yet despite all of this, six months after the bears were released they found them dead. In fact, very few release efforts have succeeded in the past. The really incredible thing is that Free the Bears is expanding from half a hectare to 13 hectares over the next several years where they will be equipped with a much wider range of services including DNA testing and will also have rescued tigers. For this, they need volunteers with all kinds of skills starting February 2017 - photographers, PR specialists, communications people, architects, even policy people! - in a scheme where they will provide accommodation and food and you figure out flights and visas. I am seriously considering going back to work on the policy strategy element to develop a long term vision with government...stay tuned! They are really open to all kinds of volunteers but I will find out more in the next several weeks. If anyone is interested, I’d be more than happy to send through details when I have them!