A wildlife lover from Petersfield has been going round in circles to save bears from a life of cruelty in a Far Eastern country.

Lynne Chitty spent the first weekend of August walking around Heath Pond in support of Animals Asia and their bid to end bear caging on bile farms in Vietnam.

She wanted to raise £1,370 by completing 137 circuits – one for every Moon Bear still caged – but ran up a total of £2,500 following her three-day fundraiser.

“So many people walked with me,” said the exercise guru, who was accompanied on her weekend fundraiser by a total of 40 walkers and five dogs.

“The Runny Honeys joined me and I was rarely walking on my own, and I gave everyone who walked with a me a goodie bag as a thank you.

“I was hoping to raise £1,370 as that would be £10 for every bear in captivity, so I was blown away by the final figure. It was well beyond what I dreamt of.”

Lynne said Moon Bears, also known as Asian Black Bears, have been “really close to her heart” since a friend told her about the work of Animals Asia around 20 years ago.

The charity is close to achieving a goal as the practice of bear caging was recently outlawed by the Vietnamese government. Every remaining bear in captivity should be safely re-homed at the charity’s sanctuary in Bach Ma by the end of the year but it’s a race against time as many are in poor health, with some dying before rescue.

Lynne added: “I’ve never been able to go out there but I’ve got very close links with the people in the charity and they’re doing a lot of work to help these bears.”

For more details visit www.animalsasia.org