BEFORE THEY KILL THEM, THEY MAKE THEM WISH THEY WERE DEAD
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These alleged gall bladders were kept in a medicated oil box and locked in a display shelf at a Traditional Chinese Medicine shop in Singapore.
Bear bile contains an active constituent known as Ursodeoxycholic Acid (UDCA), which is highly valued in Traditional Chinese Medicine. For centuries, the prescription for a variety of human ailments like fever, hemorrhoids conjunctivitis and liver disease has been death for wild bears.
But all this changed about 20 years ago, when farmers discovered that they didn't have to kill the bears anymore. They could keep them alive in cages and extract the bile from them.
As a result, bears became bile machines, bile became an industry and today, China has the world's largest number of captive bears in farms.
BEAR FARMS
When the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) studied bear farms in China in 1999-2000, they found the animals living in extremely poor conditions.
To extract bile from a captive bear, an opening is surgically made through the abdominal area and into the gall bladder. A tube is then inserted to tap the bile. At some farms, a steel stick is forced through to the gall bladder so that the bile can run down.
The surgery, if it can be called that, is often performed by farm owners or members of the staff who have little or no veterinary training.
50 - 60% of the bears die just from the surgery. And many of them are left with inflamed and bleeding wounds, open incisions and tumour swellings in the abdominal area.
The bears are confined individually in cages so small that they can hardly turn around, sit up, stretch out, and lie down. Some endure this treatment for as long as 15 years.
Many bears exhibit behavioural problems such as chronic stereotypy, aggressive behaviour, agitation, nervousness and excessive inactivity. Some shake their heads continually. While their bile is being drawn, the bears often twitch, jerk, gnash their teeth, tremble, kick, bite or moan. When they cannot produce sufficient bile, the bears are usually put in another cage and left to die.
Some may even be killed for their paws and gall bladder. Three farms admitted to WSPA that paws could be cut off if customers requested fresh paw. -
THE BEAR PRODUCTS TRADE IN SINGAPORE
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Singapore is a party to CITES.
Bears are endangered species with almost all Asian species of bears belonging to Appendix 1, which means that trade for primarily commercial purposes is prohibited; CITES permits are issued only under special circumstances.
Under the Endangered Species (Import & Export) Act of Singapore, it is an offence to import or export any endangered species without a CITES permit. It is also against the law to possess an endangered species that has been illegally imported.
Anyone found guilty of such offences can be fined, imprisoned or both.
Yet a recent study (May to July 2001) conducted by the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) in Singapore found 50 out of 68 Chinese medicine shops (or 73.5%) selling alleged bear products.
The products were alleged intact gall bladders, bear bile pills, bear bile crystals, bear bile powder and bear claws. Shopkeepers from 24 shops (48%) which sold alleged bear gall bladders and bile products claimed to have a regular supply of customers, regular clientele and those who bought in bulk of about 100 pills at one time.
Of the 50 shops that sold alleged bear gall bladders and bile products, 9 (18%) mentioned that the trade was illegal and 6 (12%) knew that bears were protected species, especially in China.
Twelve (24%) who sold alleged bear products claimed that the trade was legal but did not say that they had any permits to trade in the products.
China was reported by the shopkeepers to be the most common source of import of alleged bear gall bladders and bile products. Other imports were reported to be from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Siberia and Vietnam.
Read our full consumer report.
HERBAL SUBSTITUTES
Even Chinese medical practitioners acknowledge that bear farming is unnecessary.
There are at least 54 herbal alternatives to bear bile in its various medical applications, according to a joint study by EarthCare and the Chinese Association of Medicine and Philosophy (based in Hong Kong).
"Herbal alternatives have the same effect - so why kill the animals?" asks Dr. Ho Ka Cheong, the President of the Hong Kong Chinese Herbalist Association.
"We definitely do not have to use bear bile as it can be replaced by herbs, which are cheaper too," says Dr Sun Ji Xian from the Chinese Association of Preventative Medicine in Beijing.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Do not buy bear gall bladder or bile products. Use herbal alternatives. Share this information with your family and friends. Support efforts to end bear farming.
BEAR BILE SHOULD BE ONLY FOR BEARS