In this week of the Moon Bear I hope to be able to tell you a little more about these wonderful, striking but sadly vulnerable bears, why they so desperately need our help and why the work of organisations like the Born Free Foundation and Animals Asia is so vital. You may also be interested to know a little about me and why I decided to ‘champion’ the Moon Bear.
But first, let me introduce myself; I’m Diane Reeves and I'm the author of ‘Jia Ting’ which is a story centred on a family of Moon Bears – or the Asian Black Bear to give them their correct title.
If you’re reading this then I’m surmising that you're probably an animal lover, likely a keen reader, possibly a writer and maybe a supporter of the Born Free Foundation or another animal charity. If you are any of these things then we already have something in common.
What else about me? Well, I’m 45 and have been married for 24 happy years – 4 for me 20 for him – yes, I’m joking – and we have a 15 year old daughter. I’m a full time civil servant having worked for the Home Office on Merseyside for almost 25 years. Indirectly, this is what led me to writing.
My work doesn’t really allow for much creativity and as I approached my mid forties, I felt I needed more than facts, figures, procedures and processes in my life. But what?
Now, I can’t sing – at least not in public. I can’t play a musical instrument - although I’ve always had a hankering to have a go at the Saxophone or the Banjo, but that’s another story! I’m not sporty – unless you count supporting Liverpool FC. I was thrown out of my Art class at school for ineptitude, and you really wouldn’t want to see me attempt to dance.
Writing was about the only thing left and I figured I was moderately articulate so thought I’d give it a shot. I completed a Creative Writing Course at Liverpool’s JMU and have been writing in fits and starts since then.
‘Jia Ting’ is my first submission since I began writing less than 2 years ago. To say I was stunned when I learned that my story had been successful is something of an understatement!
But first, let me introduce myself; I’m Diane Reeves and I'm the author of ‘Jia Ting’ which is a story centred on a family of Moon Bears – or the Asian Black Bear to give them their correct title.
If you’re reading this then I’m surmising that you're probably an animal lover, likely a keen reader, possibly a writer and maybe a supporter of the Born Free Foundation or another animal charity. If you are any of these things then we already have something in common.
What else about me? Well, I’m 45 and have been married for 24 happy years – 4 for me 20 for him – yes, I’m joking – and we have a 15 year old daughter. I’m a full time civil servant having worked for the Home Office on Merseyside for almost 25 years. Indirectly, this is what led me to writing.
My work doesn’t really allow for much creativity and as I approached my mid forties, I felt I needed more than facts, figures, procedures and processes in my life. But what?
Now, I can’t sing – at least not in public. I can’t play a musical instrument - although I’ve always had a hankering to have a go at the Saxophone or the Banjo, but that’s another story! I’m not sporty – unless you count supporting Liverpool FC. I was thrown out of my Art class at school for ineptitude, and you really wouldn’t want to see me attempt to dance.
Writing was about the only thing left and I figured I was moderately articulate so thought I’d give it a shot. I completed a Creative Writing Course at Liverpool’s JMU and have been writing in fits and starts since then.
‘Jia Ting’ is my first submission since I began writing less than 2 years ago. To say I was stunned when I learned that my story had been successful is something of an understatement!
My love of animals was forged in childhood. My mum was a Kiwi from good farming stock and we always had an assortment of critters at home. We also ran a city cattery for many years and I loved to help out after school. Whenever possible, we would ‘escape to the country’ and this brought me into contact with various farm animals, donkeys and horses – although being a ‘Townie’ I always had a healthy respect for anything which didn’t sit, stay or walk to heel!
These days we just have a 7 year old Golden Retriever at home and my daughter has a horse at a yard nearby – that’s enough responsibility for a working mum.
So why Moon Bears? Well, about the time I saw the Bridge House call for submissions, I was at my local vet’s surgery and they were selling calendars in which some of the veterinary nurses had posed to raise money for the Moon Bears. To be honest, I’d never even heard of Moon Bears then but after hearing a little about the rescue work that the Animals Asia Foundation is doing in China I went home and did some research. I can’t tell you how shocked and distressed I was by what I discovered.
It seems most people are aware that animals such as Tigers, Giant Pandas and Polar Bears are under threat and on the endangered list, but this is only because these are the sexy, beautiful, cute, or iconic images which seem to get all the publicity. Now, I’ve always been a sucker for the underdog and so, in the hope of raising their profile and contributing something to alleviating the suffering of the Moon Bears, I decided to write about these remarkable creatures.
Whenever I mentioned to friends that I was writing a story about Moon Bears, the response was always “What Bears?” I think this just illustrates how little people know about them and the terrible cruelty they endure in China and throughout Asia.
If I can help to raise awareness – even a tiny bit – and make more people sensitive to their plight, by doing something which I enjoy, then I think that’s the very least I can do.
So why Moon Bears? Well, about the time I saw the Bridge House call for submissions, I was at my local vet’s surgery and they were selling calendars in which some of the veterinary nurses had posed to raise money for the Moon Bears. To be honest, I’d never even heard of Moon Bears then but after hearing a little about the rescue work that the Animals Asia Foundation is doing in China I went home and did some research. I can’t tell you how shocked and distressed I was by what I discovered.
It seems most people are aware that animals such as Tigers, Giant Pandas and Polar Bears are under threat and on the endangered list, but this is only because these are the sexy, beautiful, cute, or iconic images which seem to get all the publicity. Now, I’ve always been a sucker for the underdog and so, in the hope of raising their profile and contributing something to alleviating the suffering of the Moon Bears, I decided to write about these remarkable creatures.
Whenever I mentioned to friends that I was writing a story about Moon Bears, the response was always “What Bears?” I think this just illustrates how little people know about them and the terrible cruelty they endure in China and throughout Asia.
If I can help to raise awareness – even a tiny bit – and make more people sensitive to their plight, by doing something which I enjoy, then I think that’s the very least I can do.
More about these beautiful creatures tomorrow.
Great post and this little creature is one people do not know that much about so great to see it- looking forward to the rest of the week's posts! Debz :)
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