The spice of life girls are out of quarantine

In June 2021 Animals Asia rescued the last four performing bears from Hanoi Central Circus and today, we’re delighted to bring you an update on how our ‘Spice Girls’ have been doing.

Chilli (who has since received her forever name of Chilli-Bienchen), Saffron, Tiêu and Gừng had spent the first tender years of their lives caged, wearing restraints and performing unnatural acts for cheering crowds.

Our vet team estimated them to be around two years old, which means they would have been taken away from their mums at a very young age, a time when they would have been physically and emotionally dependent on them.

Since arriving at our sanctuary in Vietnam, the Spice Girls have all received health checks and apart from a few issues which our team can fix or manage, they are physically healthy. But the emotional scars, the ones we can’t see, will take much longer to heal.

The bear carers and vets have patiently and gently been encouraging them to accept food and treats. After a cautious start, all four bears are now accepting – and enjoying – a varied and delicious diet.

They are also starting to enjoy their enrichment items such as straw brooms, banana leaves (also known as ‘browse’) and hessian sacks to play with – or rather, destroy!

All four Spice Girls love getting showers – a big part of sanctuary life! Tiêu, despite being the most nervous of the four, loves them so much she’s started to lie down on her back to get completely immersed!

Our sanctuary team is slowly mending these broken bears. Will you help them receive the care they deserve and desperately need to overcome their traumatic start in life?

To learn more and to donate to support these girls please visit our website:

www.animalsasia.org/intl/media/news/news-archive/our-spice-girls-settle-into-sanctuary-life-and-pass-health-checks-with-flying-colours.html?utm_source=social&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=social&utm_content=solhc