Back in September 2005, a young, one-year-old bear cub named Dayley arrived at our sanctuary in Chengdu China from the Yele Nature Reserve in southern Sichuan.

Dayley was always a playful personality and that persisted throughout his entire life and he created extremely strong friendships with other male and female bears.

China Bear & Vet Team Director Ryan Marcel Sucaet said:
“One bond I will never forget was him and Peanut. As Peanut’s hind legs slowly stopped working, Dayley became Peanut’s hospice friend. Dayley never played too rough and was always at Peanut’s side.”

After Peanut passed away it was difficult as Dayley seemed outwardly depressed. We tried to integrate him back with his former group, but they made it clear they didn’t want him. Many conversations were had on what to do with Dayley. Then Sr. Bear Team Manager Molly decided to move him to a totally new bear house with mostly blind and amputee bears. Dayley, as the only four-legged and visual bear in the group carried associated risks but the team also knew that Dayley’s temperament could be a good match. The integration went better than anyone anticipated. Dayley bonded with basically every bear in that group, including the very hard-to-please, Ria.

It was great to see his personality shine again. He brought so much play and peace to this bear house and this is where he lived as we watched his hindlegs slowly stop working.

The bear and vet team on the ground had regular meetings about his case and sadly Dayley wasn’t showing signs of improvement. He continued to drag his hindlegs behind him and struggled to get around. Dayley’s last day was spent in his den. He was spoiled by the team and he decided to make a beautiful straw nest in the corner of his den next to his friends. Although captured as a cub from the wild, thanks to you we did get to shower Dayley with companionship (the human and bear kind) and love for close to 17 years after his rescue. He will be greatly missed by everyone and we are forever grateful to the staff at House 7 & 8 who gave Dayley an amazing quality of life and were remarkable at nursing him and keeping his brain busy while on den rest.

“We loved you Dayley and thank you so much for all the memories.
Your friend,
Ryan Marcel”

Show your love for these bears year in year out with a monthly donation, so we can care for even more bears like playful Dayley: help.animalsasia.org/page/58804/donate?utm_source=orgsocial&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=rip&utm_content=dayley