Yao Ming is a big fan of animals and trying to protect them.
He spearheaded the campaign against shark finning alongside Richard Branson.
He has most recently spoken out against bear bile farming.
So Yao and his wife went with the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) to visit some rescued bears.
At the AAF’s moon bear sanctuary in Chengdu, founder Jill Robinson introduced them to some of the rescue bears.
The AAF said in a press release:
“Across Asia, an estimated 14,000 moon bears are being held in captivity on farms and milked for their bile because its believed to be effective in the practice of traditional Asian medicine despite the availability of inexpensive and effective herbal and synthetic alternatives.”
The bears are kept in tight cages and their bile is extracted through catheters or open holes in their abdomen.
So awful!
“As Yao Ming ran his fingers over [a rescue bear’s] scar tissue you could have heard a pin drop, before this thoughtful, gentle man looked at the pictures and pathology of other victims of bile extraction and pondered the reality of the bear farming trade.”
Yao said:
“Moon bears are beautiful animals in nature; let├óΓé¼Γäós love and care for moon bears together. Support Animals Asia and help the moon bears.”