China has created bear farms to reduce the threats to wild populations. But it is clear that far from diminishing this danger, these farms have boosted a fast-growing market, even encouraging the capture of wild animals in its territory and in neighbouring countries, either to supply farms or to meet higher demand.
When the farms were opened, 1000 bears were captured each year. The difficulty bears have in reproducing in captivity and the high mortality rate lead farms to continue capturing bears in the wild. In 1999, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimated that there were 2000 bears in China, while, according to the Chinese authorities, there were 46 530 individuals in 1997! The fall in the numbers of black bears and brown bears is the most severe.
A growing market
Before the bear farms were opened, traditional Chinese medicine was consuming 500 kg of bile every year. Ten years after the first bear farms appeared, production exceeds 7000 kg of bile, with 4000 kg consumed in China alone (Fam, 1999). The farms have started aggressive marketing to make these torture sites profitable and reach new markets. Shampoos, creams and even drinks, such as the wine available in Chinese international airports, all feature bear bile, without any beneficial effect able to be proved scientifically. Consumers are also becoming more and more demanding: they want wild bear bile, which is reputed to be the most effective.
Unsuitable and cruel conditions
The surveys and studies carried out by animal protection and veterinary associations, both in China and abroad, have shown and provided evidence that bear breeding is unsuitable and cruel, notably in most Chinese farms. Bears cannot adapt to living in cages: they harm themselves, looking for a way out. The size of the cages, which are not adapted to the size of the bears, causes a great deal of harm to the animals. The separation of cubs from their mothers before they are 2 to 3 years old leads either to death or behavioural defects. Surgery related to implanting catheters and bile pumps, which is most often carried out by non-professionals, leads to the development of numerous pathologies and most often death…
Closing the bear farms
It is immoral and unworthy of humanity to continue to harvest bear bile under these conditions when there are no fewer than 54 known plant-based remedies whose effectiveness is recognised by Earthcare and the Chinese medicine and philosophy association. Once Voice supports the actions of associations in China which are demanding the classification of the black bear as a class I protected animal, guaranteeing them full protection (along with brown bears, they make up 95% of the bears held in farms), and the closure of these farms, most of which are State owned. While the number of farms is falling (247 in 1998 compared with 601 in 1992) essentially because of their concentration (75% of the total number of bears are held in 27 large farms), the number of bears in captivity remains constant: around 7000 bears. As one eminent doctor specifies, these farms are “cruel and unacceptable from an ethical point of view”.
Data taken from Carol McKenna’s report “The exploitation of bear bile in China”.
The surveys and studies carried out by animal protection and veterinary associations, both in China and abroad, have shown and provided evidence that bear breeding is unsuitable and cruel, notably in most Chinese farms.
THE TRAGEDY OF FARMING
During studies carried out in farms in China, Korea and Vietnam (see Report on the exploitation of bear bile in China) and examination of animals saved from farms, the long list of problems noted by vets shows that bears are unsuited to farming and that bear bile extraction is a cruel practice :
- Extreme confinement leading to injuries and lesions on paws,
- Muscular atrophy and bone deformation to the four members,
- Deformation of the thoracic cage,
- Serious lesions due to ringworm and scabies,
- Embedding of untrimmed claws in pads,
- Abnormal behaviour: stereotypy, aggression, skin and wound irritation, teeth broken on cage bars, abnormal agitation,
- Infections and inflammations due to catheters,
- Illnesses such as flu, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, pancreatitis, food poisoning, osteoporosis, anaemia, gall stones, peritonitis, etc. ,
- High mortality rate: 50 to 60 % when catheters are implanted or shortly afterwards,
- Life expectancy of 10 years instead of 25 in the wild,
- And so on
