Rattled cages

With his crooked features and stocky build, Zebedee ambles around his grassy enclosure with the swagger of a retired prize fighter - sniffing insouciantly at the air, casually sizing up his fellow moon bears and lazily contemplating his next meal.

Life has been mellow for this mild-mannered bruiser since 2009, when he was rescued from a hellish existence in the dark kitchen of a home in central Vietnam, where, from infancy, he had been crammed into a tiny cage and milked for his bile.

"The conditions we found him in were completely shocking," says Animals Asia veterinarian Kirsty Officer, who helped nurse Zebedee back to health at the charity's Moon Bear Rescue Centre, on the mountain slopes of Tam Dao National Park, in northern Vietnam.

The family in Hue province who handed Zebedee over amid a crackdown on the bear-bile trade claimed they had bought him as a cub out of pity after he was beaten with a plank by a group of soldiers. Outside their home, however, stood a notice board advertising fresh bear bile for sale.

"He didn't have any light - not even unnatural light, let alone sunshine. He was in a small cage with a tiny square where his waste washed out underneath. He didn't see the sun or the light of day for 14 years," Officer says.

"It's so nice to see him lying out in the sun today. He has a big enclosure and he's a really playful bear and enjoys being out in the sunshine," she adds.

"Most of his teeth had to be removed so it takes him a long time to nibble through his food, but he definitely makes sure he gets his share."