Bears Caged Next To Each Other Now Spend Their Days Cuddling

Loveable moon bear pals Mama and Moggy are absolutely inseparable.

Never more so than during winter months when – for the last three years – the pair have chosen to hibernate together.

Moon bears at our sanctuaries rarely "hibernate" in the true sense of the word, but they do sometimes choose to spend the vast majority of the winter sleeping and only rarely eating. At our sanctuaries this is known as "winter dormancy" – and certain sleepy heads just love it.

Moggy is usually the more dozy of this snoozy duo. As the months get colder she'll get progressively less active and hungry until she begins falling asleep any old where.

While more alert, Mama is more than happy to follow Moggy's lead and enjoy a few months of sleepy cuddles.

When the napping season comes, the twosome pack a hanging basket with straw and hessian sacks then clamber in together and snuggle up.

This remarkably similar couple do absolutely everything together and trust no other bears but their best friend.

Perhaps they offer each other some form of comfort, both having suffered such similarly brutal fates.

Each has a missing limb from being trapped in the wild, and were caged next to each other on a Vietnamese bile farm before being rescued by Animals Asia in 2008.

Today it is believed that over 1,200 continue to suffer on such farms enduring regular bile extraction – as the fluid, produced by their gall bladders, is prized in traditional medicine.

Happily, that is now the past for Mama and Moggy.

This year, they enjoyed a slightly longer winter dormancy than normal finally going outside again last week – long after the onset of spring.

They seemed delighted to be back outside, and true to form, they stayed by each other's side wherever they roamed. True best friends forever.

Make your best friend's day special this #MoonBearMonday.