CHENGDU, Sichuan Province, China – Snoopy, a blind moon bear rescued by the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) from a cruel bear-bile farm, may regain her sight after groundbreaking surgery by a visiting British ophthalmologist, Dr Claudia Hartley. On March 19, Hartley performed probably the first cataract surgery and synthetic-lens transplant on a moon bear.

The delicate operation took four hours at the Hong Kong-based animal charity’s Moon Bear Rescue Centre here. Within a few days, Hartley can assess the results. She hopes for at least partial success.

AAF founder Jill Robinson recalls several years ago when Snoopy arrived at the rescue centre as yet another victim of the free-drip method of bile extraction. It’s unsure how long this middle-aged bear had been kept in a tiny cage, but long enough to eliminate her eyesight.

“Years of poor care and inadequate nutrition on the farm may have contributed to the development of bilateral cataracts in both eyes. The cataracts completely obscured Snoopy’s vision,” Robinson said.

For Hartley, working on Snoopy was “the most difficult” cataract surgery she’d ever performed. “The cataracts were extremely hard because they’d been present so long. They overwhelmed the ultrasonic machine which couldn’t break them into fragments and suck them out. On the left eye, we had to remove the whole lens capsule containing the cataract, a different procedure altogether.”

Removal of the lens doesn’t necessarily mean Snoopy won’t see again with that eye. On the right side, she has a better chance for good vision because the medical team was able to transplant a synthetic lens.

“I don’t believe there’ll be a dry eye in the house if Snoopy suddenly realises she can see,” Robinson said. “I can’t wait.”

When first arriving at the sanctuary, a frantic Snoopy desperately rocked in her cage. She’d wounded her head from banging against the bars.

“I’ll never forget her arrival,” Robinson said. “She appeared to ignore the food we offered, which seemed strange. Most bears, deprived of food and water on the farms, are ravenous.

“It occurred to us that something more than usual wasn’t quite right. As I held a piece of apple near her nose, she began turning her head frantically towards me and lunging at the fruit, but missing. Suddenly, I realized that Snoopy was blind.

“When we put straw on top of Snoopy’s cage, which we did for all the new arrivals so they could pull it through and build nests, the little bits of straw falling onto her back made her jump in fear. Today, Snoopy loves nothing more than rolling in piles of straw.

“Truly, she’s the most beautiful moon-bear specimen we’ve ever seen. Her coat’s thick, black and glossy. She has perfectly round ears and a perfect crescent moon on her chest. Now that she feels safe, her gentle, fun-loving nature shines through.”

Learning to compensate for blindness, Snoopy developed amazing smell and hearing. Each morning, she’d sniff out new treats (dried pineapple’s a favorite) and listen to events in “the secret garden”, a separate enclosure for special-needs bears.

But efforts to integrate Snoopy with the other disabled bears failed, so she stayed separate within the special-care enclosure. She interacted with her neighbours, the brain-damaged Rupert and elderly Franzi and Haribo, but essentially lived a solitary life as moon bears do in the wild.

AAF senior vet Heather Bacon, who assisted in the surgery, said she’s thrilled by its potential success: “It means (all going well) that Snoopy’s quality of life will improve greatly and gives us hope that some of our other bears will see again.”

Next, Hartley and Dr David Donaldson, both donating their time and skills, will perform surgeries on six more bears. Both these veterinarians are associated with the UK’s charitable organization, the Animal Health Trust.


As a hobby, Snoopy enjoys rolling in straw.

(Photos Copyright: Animals Asia Foundation)

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