Circus Bear Suffered 20 Years of Abuse Behind Bars, Finally Gets Long-awaited Freedom

Illustration - Vladimir Wrangel/Shutterstock

From the archives: This story was last updated in August 2019.

Cholita suffered two decades of abuse at the hands of her captors. Today, the 30-year-old spectacled bear luxuriates in the natural habitat she had been missing for so long, and it’s all down to a miraculous, accidental rescue operation.