Bear Bile Farming (Absolute Evil)

After working on my last blog "Human Crimes Against Wildlife (Inhumanity)" and doing research on Bear Bile Farming, I've decided that this form of animal overexploitation deserves a little more focus and it's own personal blog.

I find this example of animal cruelty to be absolutely and horribly foul. In my ranking of the worse crimes against animals, it is among the tops. As a carnivorous mammal lover, I take this crime very, very seriously.

The first thing I would like you to read is a piece of literature written by a young girl in Australia. She wrote this for a presentation at her school. It is incredibly moving and helps explain why people need to get involved in the cause to end Bear Bile Farming.

"A Day in the Life of a Farmed Bear in China Through a Bear's Eyes"

"The morning starts with a small meal of pig swill and left over scraps accompanied by a tiny tray of powdered milk. My skinny, starved body struggles to even reach from my cage to pull in the mere amount of food on offer, let alone chew it due to the rotting condition of my teeth. The farmers starve us all so our gall bladders are full of bile for the extraction we receive continuously. This is my first meal in days.

"I hear my miserable neighbors groan and the sound of heads bashing against bars surrounds me. Chewing on our own paws is common too. This is the atmosphere I have lived in for the past five years of my life, beginning from the day I was snared in my forest home in China and seperated from my mother at only 12 months old. The scar still remains on my leg where the fine wire strand held tight around my paw. Although, I was luckier than some of my cell mates who no longer have their limb.

"I suppose you could call me one of the luckier bears on this farm. I still have all four legs and have only been here for five years unlike some bears who have been in their coffin-like cages for twenty years or more. Finished my meal; if you could call it that, I hear the farmers enter. My body trembles with fear. This only the start of the pain and nightmare we bears go through every day of our lives. The first agonizing cries of my friends start and I know my endless suffering is soon about to worsen. The bile extraction procedure is a gruesome and painful process, some of us have a catheter which is a steel or plastic tube inserted into our abdomen which is constantly draining our bile into a bag that is held on by a steel harness that wraps tightly around our stomach so that we can't even sit or lie down. The other is the method I suffer from, where a hot metal catheter is inserted to remake the hole in the fistula as it tries to heal over. This is done around three times a day. Both these methods are excruciating, unhygenic, and totally inhumane.

"I feel the flesh on my back being grabbed and my body wrenched to the edge of the cage. I try to put up a fight, but my body is just too weak and all I can do is just lay hard against the small cage on my back as they burn my sore infected skin and drain my bile. The pain is just too much to bare. I try to move but more hands just violently grab me, so slowly, I give up and allow the agonizing pain to proceed. Groaning wildly and screaming with boredom, frustration and pain the day slowly comes to an end. Starving, infected, and many of us brain damaged, what will become of me and my friends..."

"A Diary Passage of the Life of a Rescued Bear Through a Bear's Eyes"

"The long bumpy ride slows to a halt. Loaded into an unfamiliar truck with at least fifty of my other companions, I am unsure and nervous of what is to come. Having lost all my trust in humans, I growl as they lift my tiny cage from the tray. Having been cut out of my cage and being put into a cement enclosure for the night, my joints ache with every movement.

"Morning comes and my enclosure is soon disturbed by the hustle and bustle of people coming. Scared and anxious, I am carefully injected and feeling very tired and dopey, I fall asleep. During this time, I undergo a serious life-saving operation which, in many cases, bears are so badly injured and infected they die on the operating table because they just can't be saved. I spend the next few days in the cement enclosure, recovering. I sleep most of the days and am relieved of my pain.

"Finally, the day arrives when I am lured through a few doorways with a sweet honey treat before I nervously step onto a cement path edging a large and beautiful green area, filled with trees, pools, and climbing forts. I get a fright as I step onto the grass. Being a bear bred on a farm, I have never felt grass beneath my feet nor have I properly seen the outside world. I take my time, cautiously exploring my new surroundings- my new home, before finally being greeted and included in the everyday life of the other bears who have already been introduced to this wonderful place.

"Woken by the warm rays of sunlight upon my back, I climb down from my comfy tree-top hammock, making my way to the newly filled food bowl. I have a roll around on the grass with my other bear friends until finally helping myself to a delicious feed of juicy fruits and vegetables along with a sweet treat of honey. My life in the bear sanctuary is heaven. After my scrumptious feed, I head to the pool and loll around in the cool, clear water with a ball. I finish off with a climb on the large climbing frames, before finally falling asleep in my favorite place: the hammock once again.

"The physiotherapy I receive for my wounds and arthritis from being on the farms is soothing and comforting. I have learned to trust people again and enjoy a regular scratch and TLC from my caretaker. I never knew such a life existed..."

It is much more painful to think about this horrible treatment through the mind of the poor bears who endure it everyday. This is yet another thing that the country of China should be completely ashamed of and, yet, they allow it to continue in mass. 9,000 bears go through what you read, everyday, three times a day. Only a handful are lucky enough to be rescued and taken to rehabilitation centers, but even those are still condemned to a life away from their natural home.

You don't need to be animal activist, enviromentalist, or a wildlife advocate to oppose bear farming; it is a brutal, cruel, and completely unnecessary institution. Unfortunately, most Americans don't even know about it! What they also don't know is that the domestic sale and export of bear gallbladders, taken from our bears, is an active black market in the United States. The black market works with the Asian Bear Bile Market, to sell gallbladders from our black, brown, grizzly, and polar bear populations. So, not only does this affect Moon Bear populations in Asia, it has detrimental effects on our own bear populations. As well as this black market in our bear's internal organs, bear bile products are illegally imported into the U.S. from Asia.

"Those who wish to pet and baby wildlife love them, but those who respect their natures and wish to let them live their natural lives, love them even more." - Edwin Way Teale, naturalist and author.

Think about this the next time you go to a zoo and think, "Oh, it's so cute, I wish I could just hug it!". The next time you see a bear in a zoo, on a mantle peace, or in the wild, remember this statement- remember the information in this blog. Stand there and be humbled by their majesty. Live and let be that which we have no right to. Where in the world do humans get off? We exploit these animals for a hobbie, entertainment, the own fur off their back, and now their internal fluids necessary for them to digest their own food? What the hell is wrong with this world? I will never understand...

Well, moving on... here is some more information on Bear Bile Farming...

Where Does Bear Bile Farming Occur?
There is no bear farming in the United States. It is confined to China, Korea, and Vietnam. Fortunately, Vietnam is phasing out its bear farms.

What Is Bear Bile?
Bile is a liquid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. It is an acidic mixture of acids, cholesterol, water, and electrolytes that aids in the digestion of food. For at least three thousand years now, bear bile has been used in tradition Chinese medicine for a variety of reasons. The gallbladder of a bear, usually an Asiatic Black Bear (Moon Bear), was the source of the bile, and to collect it, the bear had to be killed. In the early 1980's, the Chinese government encouraged the commercialization of bear farming, originally developed in Korea. Bear farmers keep the bears alive and repeatedly remove their bile. Before bear farming, bear bile was only available in small quantities. Once commercial bear farming began in China, the supply of bile increased tremendously, fueling the international bear bile industry.

In 1993, Chinese Bear Bile Farming was exposed by a British woman named Jill Robinson. Since then, animal advocates all over the globe have objected to the brutalities and cruelties of this practice while others have explained why the modern pharmaceutical industry has made bear farming unnecessary. And while there is no bear farming in the United States, there is demand for bear bile and bear gallbladders. This demand takes two forms. First their is the illegal importation of Asian Bear Bile Products, which is illegal by definition because the Asiatic Black Bear is protected by international wildlife law. Beyond that is the trade in domestic bear bile. In the United States, 16 states still allow the commerce in domestic bear products in some form. The lack of uniform laws from state to state allows the domestic black market in bear gallbladders and bear bile to continue. Our black bears, grizzly bears, Alaskan brown bears, and polar bears are poached for their gallbladders while a lack of uniform laws create loopholes in the persecution and conviction of those who profit from this commerce.

A bill, HR 5534, the Bear Protection Act of 2009, was introduced into the House of Representatives. This bill had a specific purpose: to uniformly prohibit the interstate trade in bear parts and help law enforcement officers protect bear populations. It did not prohibit hunting or tell states how to manage their bear populations. This bill was not passed this year, but will likely be reintroduced in the near future.

Why is this bill important?
Without the bill that is enforced in all states, there is incomplete protection against the commerce in bear bile and gallbladders. In five states, it is completely legal to deal in bear viscera (internal organs including the gallbladder) whether it be from bears taken (hunted) in those states or other states. Another eleven states allow cross-border trade in bear viscera though they prohibit hunting and/or trade in in-state bears. Meaning, you could buy a bear gallbladders, so long as it's not from a bear killed in that state. Proving the origin of the gallbladder makes things difficult for enforcement and prosecutors.

Why should you care? It's not in your country...
Well actually, it is. It was estimated in the late 90's that 40,000 bears were poached per year in the United States. This means about one bear killed illegally for every one that WAS hunted with a permit. Were all these bears killed for their gallbladders? No, but there is active trade in gallbladders in North American bears. This is a fact. The reason this is important and the reason you should care is: as native bear population in Asia are being continually decimated by bear farming, our bears are becoming another source of gallbladders for a huge international market. Essentially, the market for bear products will follow in the footsteps of the fur-trade. Fur trapping has been outlawed in many countries, leaving the United States to be the leader in the trading and consumption of fur.

Why would this happen in the U.S.?
The United States has proven its greed time and time again. When it all comes down to it, it's always about money. A poacher will sell the bear's gallbladder to a middleman for $25. A middleman will sell the gallbladder to an endseller for $300. An endseller will sell the gallbladder to a consumer for $1000 in the United States.

Bears are part of our national wilderness and are an apex mammal in our North American ecosystems where they are an integral part of our great American outdoors. They are being illegally killed for profit and human gain. That is integrally wrong and that is why you should care and speak out against Bear Bile Farming and Trade.

Where in the U.S. does this occur?
Idaho, Maine, New York, Vermont, and Wyoming. These states have no laws against this commerce. 11 other states can also host this commerce.

What science has proven? Why is bear bile obsolete?
Bear bile is really like the bile of other mammals. However, for reasons we don't know or understand, bear bile has an increased amount of one chemical: a bile acid called ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). This bile acid has distinctive biochemical properties that seem to protect the liver and biliary system from the more corrosive effects of other bile acids. UDCA has been recognized for at least forty years to the therapeutic constituent of bear bile and has been studied extensively. There are no other constituents (as far as we know) of bear bile that have this or any other therapeutic effect. At present, pharmaceutical UDCA is taken by patients who suffer from disorders of the biliary system and liver. However, active research in the treatment of neurological disease, eye disease, and heart attack are promising.

Bear bile is obsolete because pharmaceutical UDCA is now produced in large quantities by pharmaceutical companies. Because bile is produced in the gallbladder of all mammals, bile is taken from slaughterhouses, and through a series of chemical reactions, pharmaceutical companies can isolate pure UDCA. The use of bile from slaughterhouses has helped increase the use of all parts of an animal, so no resource is wasted. The end result of this practice are brand-name medications such as Actigall, Ursofalk, Urso, Urso Forte, and others. These pure UCDA products are used by millions of patients worldwide. These medications are safe, widely available, and much more affordable than bear bile, which is extremely expensive. Moreover, pharmaceutical grade UDCA is always regulated by the FDA, so it is manufactured according to strict standards of consistency and purity. The point is: there is no reason to take bile from bears when the active agent is available from other sources.

Not only that but pharmaceutical UDCA is far more advanced and healthier that bear bile. Farmed bears have a high rate of liver cancers which are likely the result of chronic infection and inflammation of the gallbladder and liver. This in addition to the collection methods results in bile that contains pus (white blood cells), debris, skin cells, and other impurities. These compounds are ingested by the consumer of the bear bile. Also, the level of active UDCA is unknown in bear bile, considering the fact that each bear produces different amounts of UDCA at different times.

If the proper measures are taken by international law, pharmaceutical grade UDCA will, one day, completely replace the use of bear bile. When this happens, bear farms will no longer serve a purpose.

Who is fighting Bear Bile Farming?

• Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) - an organization based in Hong Kong whose mission is to improve the lives of all animals in Asia, end cruelty, and restore respect for animals Asia-wide. Bear farming in China and Vietnam is their main focus. Jill Robinson MBE is to thank for the creation of this organization. AAF operates bear rescue facilities in China and Vietnam. For more information, (http://www.animalsasia.org/)
• Free The Bears Fund Inc. - a non-profit organization based in Perth Western Australia, founded in 1995 by Mary Hutton. Their main focus is to bring an end to the "dancing bears" of India. To do so, they have introduced the "Kalander Rehabilitation Program". To date they have built sanctuaries in Cambodia, Thailand, Kalimantan, India, and Laos for bears confiscated from poachers, markets, and animal traders. Sun bears, Asiatic Black Moon Bears, and Sloth Bears have been rescued and are now kept in these sanctuaries. This fund also works to raise awareness of bear bile farming by petitioning and letter writing to authorities in China. One hundred per cent of all donations are given directly to the bears. For more information, (http://freethebears.org.au/)
• Moonbears.org - a group dedicated to ending bear farming in Korea. Their principles are as follows: a. the Korean government should ban all bear farming, close bear farms, and offer a compensation package to bear farmers. b. the government should establish a properly funded bear sanctuary at Jirisan National Park and the farmed bears be released, monitored, and properly protected and cared for there. c. the government should ban all sales of bear products in Korea. d. the government should foster education in schools and other places. e. international monitoring organizations should be invited to participate in monitoring of compliance with animal welfare regulations. For more information, (http://www.moonbears.org/)
• The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) - an international animal welfare organization, whose mission is to build a united global animal welfare movement. Bear farming is a key issue for WSPA. They are working in the key nations - China, Korea, and Vietnam - to convince the governments there that it is in their best interest to close down the bear farming industry. They have also worked with law enforcement officials to halt the illegal trade of bear bile around the world, includeing looking at traditional Asian medicine shops in Chicage. They are also active lobbiers for the passage of HR 3029. Jackie Chan is an active member and lobbier for the WSPA's campaign to end Bear Farming in Asia. For more information, (http://www.wspa-international.org/)
• WildAid - an organization whose mission states, "We believe that the ecological damage, cruelty, and corruption involved in the illegal wildlife trade are both unnecessary and morally unacceptable - that these activities constitute a theft from future generations." Their main strategy is to decrease the demand for wildlife products, by working with the media, governments, celebrities, local partners, and communities worldwide to make wildlife conservation a global priority. For more information, (http://wildaid.org/index.asp?CID=1)

Here is a video made by WSPA, documenting the trade in bear bile and the bear bile farming itself... please watch it.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9snODccgIc&feature=related)

Let's Support These Organizations and Get Involved!!

Thanks for reading,

Ashley

P.S. I'm going to do a profile blog on the Moon Bear in the near future, so, if you found this subject touching, look out for this blog as it will show you the face and victim of Bear Bile Farming.