David Shepherd - Over the moon about bears

When David Shepherd appeared as a guest on Chris Evans’ Radio 2 show last month, the well-known DJ described him as ‘probably the best wildlife artist in the world’.

There are few who would disagree. His huge paintings of elephants, zebras and other wild animals are appreciated, not just for their artistic value, but also as an important reminder of the increasing plight of many endangered species around the world.

David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

Now in his mid-70s, David is also a passionate conservationist and paints prolifically from a studio at his home near East Grinstead. He has lived in and around Surrey all his life, and his charity, the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF), is run from offices in Cranleigh. David’s impact on conservation, however, is worldwide.

He relays with customary good humour how his early attempts to become involved with wildlife fell flat…
“My one and only ambition was to be a game-warden,” he says. “So when I'd finished my education, I went rushing out to Kenya with the incredibly arrogant idea that I was God's gift to the National Parks. It was a disaster. I knocked on the door of the head game warden in Nairobi and said, 'I'm here - can I be a game warden?' I was told I wasn't wanted. My life was in ruins; that was the end of my career in three seconds flat."

Career decisions

Arriving back in England on a Union Castle steamer, David felt he had two choices of career – artist or bus driver. His father offered to pay for his art training so David sent one of his bird paintings to The Slade School of Fine Art in London. The Slade turned him down flat, saying he had absolutely no talent at all. Then, by great fortune, he was introduced to Robin Goodwin, a professional painter who specialised in portraits and marine subjects. Goodwin was reluctant to take on students, but he agreed to have a look at David's work and was grudgingly impressed.

David went on to study with Goodwin for three years, and soon discovered he was a demanding taskmaster. But Goodwin’s high expectations and realistic approach proved invaluable training for David who remembers him ranting: "Throwing paint at the wall and 'expressing yourself' doesn't pay the bills. Artists, like everyone else, have to work eight hours and more a day, seven days a week, to meet their responsibilities.”

Artistic revelations

As David’s confidence as an artist grew, he developed an interest and talent for painting aviation pictures, a subject matter that would take him to far-flung places where he discovered a very different world to the familiar surroundings of Southern England. It was on one of these journeys that he stumbled upon a horrific sight. A waterhole had been poisoned by poachers, and around it were lying 255 dead zebra. It was then that it hit him; through his paintings, which were already in great demand, he could repay his debt to wildlife.

The Asiatic black bear

More recently, his attention was drawn to the ‘hellish conditions’ of the Asiatic black bear or ‘moon bears’ that are kept in ‘crush cages’ in farms in China and milked for their bile. De-clawed and with their canine teeth hacked away to make them easier to milk, these bears live a miserable existence.

Wildlife campaigner Jill Robinson (MBE) has been fighting to get these bear farms closed down since she founded Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) in 1998. The DSWF has provided the AAF with ad hoc support since 1999, and this year David pledged to increase that support and painted his first ever portrait of a moon bear called Jasper. The bear’s vulnerability immediately touched his heart.

“When you do a painting of any animal there is a certain amount of emotional content – it’s not like painting a landscape,” he says. “When I look at my painting of Jasper, I still feel inclined to weep. The appalling conditions in the bear farms are indescribable. Yet there is no aggression in these bears – when you visit them, a gentle hand reaches out of the cage to touch you, almost appealing for help.”
Despite his years of horrific physical and mental abuse, Jasper began his slow recovery following extensive abdominal surgery and round the clock intensive care at AAF’s Chengdu Sanctuary. It wasn’t long before he showed his true sweet and forgiving nature.

“When the bears have been rescued and re-housed at the sanctuary in Sichuan Province, it is wonderful to see them free and learning to play again,” says David. “Jill deserves a medal – she works tirelessly, negotiating with the Chinese government to end this cruelty. The farmers are simply ignorant of how wicked their action is. Our aim is to educate them to behave more humanely – their behaviour is unbelievable by our standards.”

Since 2000, 39 bear farms have been closed and 219 bears taken to the safety of the sanctuary. Yet there are still over 7,000 bears in farms, and no central government policy calling for a final ban to milking bears for bile. The campaign continues and David Shepherd works and paints with dogged determination to raise awareness and raise funds to help the moon bear and other endangered species.

- The moon bear rescue story featured on Animal Planet in a special documentary film narrated by Stephen Fry. Called Moon Bears: Journey to Freedom, it is directed by Libby Halliday, a former BBC film maker.


Visit David Shepherds website at www.davidsheperd.orgDiscuss the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, Moon bears and other topics on the Surrey Life Forums

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