Introduction
For the past 3,000 years, Traditional Chinese Medicine has prescribed derivatives of bear bile acid - ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), for medicinal purposes. In the early 1980's, South Korea, China and Vietnam started to farm bears in order to extract their bile. “The last official figures in 1999 were 7,002 bears on 247 farms” (AAF, 2006), most of them being Asiatic Black Bears (Moon Bears). In addition, it is estimated there may be up to 1,400 and 5,000 bears in farms in Korea and Vietnam respectively. The Korean Government has banned the 'milking' of bile from the bears since the early 1990's due to public pressure.

In an undercover investigation of bear bile farms in China conducted by The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), thousands of bears were found to be kept in inhumane conditions for the profitable bear bile industry (Watkins and Hsieh, 2000). Jill Robinson, the founder and CEO of Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) has also personally witnessed these Asiatic Black Bears in “tiny wire cages, with rusting metal catheters implanted in their abdomens through which bile was extracted”

Despite claims by the Chinese Government that bear farms were established to assist wild bear conservation and to prevent poaching, most farmers admit they bought bears trapped from the wild.

The Suffering Involved
Bears are confined in small cages barely allowing movement or in pen-housing in large numbers. Injuries can be seen due to rubbing or hitting themselves against the bars of their tiny metal cages. The lack of space itself is a source of distress which commonly manifests as abnormal stereotypic behaviour.

 

Bears are weaned prematurely at 2-3 months and trained for circus or shows in zoos. At the age of three, they undergo surgery. A steel catheter is implanted into the abdomen for life or a permanent hole created in the abdomen ("free-dripping" technique). “Many bears die as a result of the unsanitary surgery and those that survive spend the rest of their lives suffering in pain and deprivation.” (AAF, 2006). Bile extraction occurs twice a day during feeding for the highest quantity of bile. Bears were seen with inflamed and bleeding wounds, open incisions for bile extraction and swellings in the abdominal area. In some farms sick bears lie down without movement. Other methods which exist are equally cruel and unacceptable.

Hence, mortality rates at the bear farms are high, and life expectancy is less than half the normal in the wild. Bears may stop producing bile after just a few years, after which they are left to die or are killed for their paws (a delicacy in China) and gall bladder.
 
The Global Trade In Bear Bile
Despite claims by the Chinese Government that they do not export bear bile products, bear bile and bear bile products are still exported illegally to several different countries, including Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. The dramatic growth in bear bile production in recent years has generated a market for a whole range of items far removed from Traditional Chinese Medicine. Today, bear bile is used as an ingredient in wine, eye drops and tonics.

Bear Farming and Conservation
Bears are often taken from the wild to supplement the farmed population and wild bears are hunted and killed for their gall bladders. A wild bear’s gall bladder is considered as more potent than farmed bear bile, and some consumers are always willing to pay more for the former. Many of the world’s bear species are now either endangered or vulnerable, including the Asiatic black bear, Sloth bear, Giant Panda and Spectacled bear, with estimated populations in the tens of thousands or less. The increased production and marketing of bear bile products both within China and overseas are having a negative effect on wild bear populations on a global scale.

Alternatives
Whilst studies have shown bile acids to be effective, today Chinese medical practitioners agree that there are many cheaper herbal and synthetic alternatives which have been proven to be more effective and readily available.

Developments
In 2000, AAF entered into an agreement with the Chinese authorities to re-home 500 bears in the Sichuan Province. However, there is no indication that the bear farm industry is closing down. The Chinese Government has not given any official statement to indicate that the bear farming industry will end.

 

Earlier this year, more than 370 MEPs from across Europe signed the declaration calling for the Chinese Government to end the inhumane practice of bear farming in advance of the 2008 Olympics. It is now official European Parliament Policy. It also calls for a clear time-limit for the end of bear farming and that the Chinese Government work with the AAF in accelerating the closure of all bear farms through programmes benefiting bears currently held captive and farmers reliant on the industry.

WSPA has also recently entered into an agreement with the Vietnamese government to phase out bear farming.

Conclusion

Bear farming is no longer a necessity for its medicinal properties. It should be completely abolished on the grounds of the extreme animal cruelty involved, the negative effects on wild bear conservation and the existence of suitable alternatives to bear bile. Bear farming is incompatible with modern husbandry practices designed to ensure the physical and mental health of animals and for these reasons, this practice should be abandoned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

1.     AAF, 2006. available: http://www.animalsasia.org/index.php?module=2&menupos=2&submenupos=3&lg=en

 

2.     Europaworld, 2006. available: http://www.europaworld.org/week252/endingbear20106.html

 

WSPA:

3. http://www.wspa-usa.org/download/8_chinese_bear_farming.pdf

4. http://www.wspa.ca/bearbile/bearbile3.html

5. http://www.wspa.ca/bearbile/bearbile4.html

6. http://www.wspa.ca/reports/thebearbilebusiness/185-212.pdf