Latin America

Judi Lynn

(160,542 posts) Sun Sep 6, 2015, 02:12 AM Sep 2015

Back home in darkest Peru, the real-life Paddington bear, thanks to Mail on Sunday readers

Cholita endured horrific years as part of cruel circus in north west Peru
Had claws cut and teeth deliberately broken to make her less dangerous
Rescued and taken back to the jungle after MoS readers help raise £30,000
Her purpose-built half-acre enclosure, which is carved out of her natural jungle habitat and includes a cave and a pool

By Matt Sandy

Published: 18:58 EST, 5 September 2015 | Updated: 19:54 EST, 5 September 2015

Cholita, the real-life Paddington bear rescued from a horrific ordeal in a circus, is back in the jungle – thanks to Mail on Sunday readers. Horrified by her plight, readers helped fund a spacious new home in a wildlife reserve deep in the Amazon rainforest.

Cholita endured years of abuse at the circus in the north-west of Peru with her claws cut down to stumps and her teeth deliberately broken to make her less dangerous to handle. She also lost most of her black fur due to the stress of being kept in a cage.

Last week, Cholita made an extraordinary 1,000-mile journey by road and river to her new home in the Taricaya Ecological Reserve in the Peruvian rainforest.

Her purpose-built half-acre enclosure, which is carved out of her natural jungle habitat and includes a cave and a pool, was paid for out of £30,000 of donations to Animal Defenders International (ADI) after we featured her story in March. The enclosure will enable her to live in her natural environment for the first time since she was captured nearly 25 years ago.

More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3223834/Back-home-darkest-Peru-real-life-Paddington-bear-thanks-Mail-Sunday-readers.html#ixzz3kw6n5Cxf

3 replies

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Back home in darkest Peru, the real-life Paddington bear, thanks to Mail on Sunday readers (Original Post) Judi Lynn Sep 2015 OP

What she endured must have been horrific. Live and Learn Sep 2015 #1

Thanks, Judi Lynn! Suich Sep 2015 #2

Please look after this bear: Cholita the rescued ‘Paddington’ bear goes home to the cloud forest Judi Lynn Sep 2015 #3

Live and Learn

(12,769 posts)

1. What she endured must have been horrific.

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Sun Sep 6, 2015, 03:02 AM

Sep 2015

So glad she is now getting some decent care.

Suich

(10,642 posts)

2. Thanks, Judi Lynn!

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Sun Sep 6, 2015, 05:16 AM

Sep 2015

Terrific story!

Judi Lynn

(160,542 posts)

3. Please look after this bear: Cholita the rescued ‘Paddington’ bear goes home to the cloud forest

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Tue Sep 8, 2015, 09:47 PM

Sep 2015

Please look after this bear: Cholita the rescued ‘Paddington’ bear goes home to the cloud forest
By Simeon Tegel, GlobalPost
Posted: 09/08/15, 7:00 PM PDT | Updated: 6 hrs ago

LIMA, Peru — After a lifetime of cruelty and abuse in a Peruvian circus, life has suddenly gotten much better for Cholita, an aging Andean spectacled bear.

During her circus ordeal, in which she was only let out of a small cage to perform tricks, Cholita’s paws were cut down to stumps to remove her claws and her teeth smashed. The stress even caused her thick black hair to completely fall out.

But now, British group Animal Defenders International (ADI) has returned her to a spacious, specially built enclosure in dense cloud forest in the Taricaya Ecological Reserve, in southeastern Peru.

Cholita, 25, is one of a dwindling number of Andean spectacled bears, the same species as children’s favorite Paddington. Experts believe there may now be as few as 5,000 of the small, timid, omnivorous mammals scattered in remote foothills from Colombia to Bolivia.

She spent three days on the epic 1,000-mile drive, over the Andes, swaddled in blankets to protect her from the cold mountain air. ADI even laid on an oxygen tent as the truck carrying Cholita went over a high pass almost 15,000 feet above sea level.

More:
http://www.sgvtribune.com/environment-and-nature/20150908/please-look-after-this-bear-cholita-the-rescued-paddington-bear-goes-home-to-the-cloud-forest

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