What is bear bile farming in Asia?
What is Bear Bile Farming? Commercial ‘bear bile farming’ began in China in the 1980’s. It is a cruel farming system designed to extract bile from the gallbladders of living bears. Previous to this, bears were hunted in the wild for their gallbladder bile, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Why do Asians extract bile from bears?
China began farming bears to extract their bile in the 1980s. While farming was intended as a way to take pressure off wild bears being poached for their gall bladders, many consumers prefer bile from wild bears, believing it to have more medicinal strength.
Does bear bile farming still exist?
According to recent official numbers, at least 10,000 bears are currently kept on bile farms in Asia. The extraction of bear bile from live bears causes unimaginable physical and psychological suffering and long-term health problems. Bile being extracted from a moon bear.
What do Chinese use bear bile for?
BEAR BILE AND TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE. Bear bile has been a popular ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine for 3,000 years. [1] It has been used to cure various ailments, such as fever, gall stones, liver problems, heart disease, and eye irritation.
How much is a bears gallbladder worth?
Although black bears are not in danger of extinction in most states, their body parts garner astronomical prices on the international black market. A U.S. hunter can sell a bear gallbladder for $20 to $120, with the retail price ranging from $75 to $600.
Why is bear gallbladder so valuable?
It also treats certain kinds of cirrhosis. (There’s even evidence that it inhibits the growth of tumors and thus helps prevent colon cancer.) So there’s one reason why bear gallbladders are so expensive: they have serious medicinal properties, which makes them inherently valuable.
What is bear gallbladder used for on the black market?
The most coveted medicinal part of the bear is the bile within the gall bladder, which gram for gram can exceed the cost of narcotics.” Bile and gallbladders have been used for thousands of years in the treatment of numerous of ailments including cardiac problems, eye puffiness, asthma, cancer, burns and impotence.
Is bear bile farming legal in Vietnam?
In 2005, Vietnam outlawed the sale and extraction of bear bile, and the government since has announced its intention to close bear farms by 2025. Despite the ban, farmers were allowed to keep their bears, as long as they were microchipped and had been registered before 2005.
How much does bear bile cost?
A U.S. hunter can sell a bear gallbladder for $20 to $120, with the retail price ranging from $75 to $600.
How many bear bile farms are there?
Farmed population. The World Society for the Protection of Animals has been reported in 2011 as saying that more than 12,000 bears are currently estimated to be housed in both illegal and legal bear farms across Asia.
Why is it illegal to possess a bear gallbladder?
Selling bear gallbladders has been banned since 1998 in Quebec, in order to avoid the bears’ slaughter. Some 160 wildlife officers participated in the operation, which began in 2015. About 60 individuals were interviewed, and 16 searches took place.
How much is a bear gallbladder worth?
A U.S. hunter can sell a bear gallbladder for $20 to $120, with the retail price ranging from $75 to $600. Paws fetch $25 to $60 each, while a carcass or hide can range from $200 to $1,500, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Is Animal Asia real?
Animals Asia is a registered charity with bear sanctuaries in China and Vietnam, headquarters in Hong Kong, and offices in Australia, China, Germany, Italy, the UK, USA and Vietnam. We have a total of 303 staff, with 252 based in China and Vietnam, 28 in our Hong Kong headquarters and 23 across our other offices.
What is bear bile farming?
The focus of our Bear Bile Farming programme is to rescue bears from the bear bile industry, provide life-long care for rescued bears at our award-winning sanctuaries in China and Vietnam, and work towards ending the industry in Asia.
How many people work on bear bile farms in China?
However, research conducted by Animals Asia suggests there are at least 97 farms, including illegal facilities, holding over 10,000 bears. We estimate that between 5,000–6,000 workers are employed on Chinese bear bile farms.
Is bear bile farming finally going to end in Vietnam?
But recently (July 2017), Animals Asia signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Vietnamese government which sets out a joint plan to eradicate bear bile farming in Vietnam forever.
How are bears farmed in China?
By the early 1990’s, there were over 400 bear farms in China alone, containing tens of thousands of suffering bears. Most farmed bears are kept permanently in cages, sometimes so small that they are unable to turn around or stand on all fours. Some bears are caged as cubs and never released, with many kept caged for up to 30 years.