Prog-rock legend and animal welfare booster Rick Wakeman treated 150 moon bears to a private concert at a sanctuary in Vietnam last week. As The Guardian reports, the former Yes keyboardist and composer performed the show to raise awareness for bears that are caged in often cruel conditions and have their bile extracted — via a needle stuck into their gall bladder — for traditional Chinese medicines. The market for bear bile is one of the largest in the illegal wildlife trade in east Asia, and while so-called “bile farms” were recently outlawed in Vietnam, some bears remain in captivity.
One of his most recent adoptees was a 20-month-old bear in attendance at his concert. Of meeting the “big fella,” Wakeman said, “He came out right to the edge and stood on his back legs and just stared at me, it was brilliant.” Trending Stories Billy Joel’s Vintage Motorcycle Collection Is Movin’ Out to Auction MAGA Senator Humiliated After Attempt to Corner Jack Smith Backfires Comically U2 Dream It All Up Again Madonna’s ‘Danceteria’ Was One of the Great Moments in VMAs History The musician also praised the work going on at the bear sanctuary, saying, “To see the bears be rehabilitated, having a life they never had before, some have never put their feet on grass before. They are so wonderful, that we can do such horrendous things to animals is beyond belief.
Before this, they were chained in cages sometimes for 10 or 20 years in conditions where they couldn’t even turn around.” He added, “If you see them, you can’t help but be moved. They aren’t tame but they are very safe, very happy, they play, they romp. I witnessed two today jumping in a bubble bath and playing.
They’ve got a life back.”
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