Real Paddington Bear saved from cruel circus
THE real-life Paddington bear who suffered such appalling treatment in a circus that she lost her claws, teeth and fur is closer to finding a new home, thanks to the generosity of Mail on Sunday readers.
After the plight of Cholita was highlighted by this newspaper last week, readers donated an extraordinary £30,000 to Animal Defenders International, which found the bear in a terrible condition during a raid in Peru earlier this month.
The elderly bear lost most of the thick black hair that covered her body as the result of the stress she endured at the circus, where she was kept in a 5ft by 5ft box, and her teeth were broken and her claws removed to prevent her from defending herself.
The money raised will allow the organisation to travel more than 600 miles on treacherous mountain and desert roads, which are often little more than dirt tracks, to reach the bear in a zoo near the northwestern city of Piura and drive her to the Peruvian capital, Lima.
The two drivers and the truck, equipped with a new cage, hay and blankets, will alone cost £2,700, and the bear will also need help from veterinary staff and a support team, who will fly to Piura in advance.
When the organisation has cleared the red tape needed to allow Cholita to leave the country, they will fly her and 33 lions they have rescued from other circuses i n South America to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado in the United States, where she can live out her days in peace.
Because she is a spectacled bear, the same endangered species as Paddington in the children’s books by Michael Bond, there are stringent conditions to be met before the authorities permit her to cross state boundaries.
The organisation, which campaigns against the exploitation of wild animals, will have to delay Cholita’s flight by several weeks to ensure she is allowed aboard, at a further cost of thousands of pounds a day, so it is still appealing for funds.
Its president, Jan Creamer, said: ‘We have been overwhelmed by the response from Mail on Sunday readers to help Cholita. We now need one last push so that she can begin her journey to freedom. Please give generously and help us save Cholita and give her the life she deserves.’
‘We’re overwhelmed
by the response’
Cholita’s appeal page is at www.ad-international.org/ CholitaAppealUK and the phone number is 020 7630 3340.