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Moon Bears Caged for 10 Years for their Bile
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Crystal
Photo of Crystal, the 'Moon' Bear at the Chengdu Sanctuary,
courtesy of Animals Asia Foundation.
Please visit
www.animalsasia.org |
The Chinese 'Moon' Bear, Crystal,
sponsored by the
WLPA,
was rescued from the China Bear Farms by the Animals Asia
Foundation and is now living at their Chengdu
Sanctuary. She is a small, middle- aged bear with a huge
crescent on her chest and fur which is ebony black, shiny
and very shaggy. Crystal's front paws are declared. She also
had an older style latex catheter - a rubber tube running
under the skin from her gallbladder and emerging from her
thigh - to make milking bile "easier". With the catheter
successfully removed, Crystal has emerged as a gentle,
affectionate bear who loves being handfed apples and
sunbathing on the grass.
Please
find out more about the China Bear Rescue at:www.animalsasia.org |
Each day, hundreds of bears are surgically mutilated for their gall
bile on bear farms in China.
See:
Cruelty In Chinese Bear Bile Farms - The Worst Outrage In the 21st
Century?
http://www.visitvancouver.bc.ca/article-bearfarms.asp
Surgery Carried Out By Farm Owners.
On most farms, surgery to enable bile extraction is carried out by
farm owners with no veterinary training. During illness, drugs are
sometimes administered, but when they are not effective, bears are
commonly left to die.
Chinese specialists in bear farming techniques inform that for
every two successful bile fistula implantations, there are another
two or three bear deaths due to complications and infections.
During bile milking, the bears show signs of severe distress.
Moaning and banging of heads against the cage is common, while some
bears were seen to chew their own paws.
Between the ages of five and ten, bears may stop producing bile.
They are then put in another cage, where they wait, either until
death comes through sickness or starvation, or they are killed for
their paws and gall bladders.
9,000 bears are kept for bear bile farming.
Recent developments show that approximately 9,000 bears are kept for
bear bile farming.
Developments:
The Chinese government has steadfastly refused to bow to public and
international pressure to stop this horrendous cruelty and close
these farms. In fact, as reported, bears now number 9,000 from 7,002
last year in Bile Farms across China.
 Other
ways to help
-Tell your Friends! The more people that protest, the better.
-Email your Premiere and the Prime Minister--
ask them, what are they doing to stop this?!
-Write to: The Chinese Ambassador, EMBASSY OF CHINA
Bear Bile product availability ...
Over the course of the past three years, WSPA and member societies
have surveyed hundreds of shops and companies in eight countries. A
wide variety of products were found including manufactured bear bile
medicines, bear bile powder, and bear gall bladders. Illegal bear
products were most readily available in the U.S. (91%), Malaysia
(78%), Japan (77%), and Singapore (74%), closely followed by Canada
(67%), Indonesia (62%), Australia (49%) and Taiwan (30%).
Is Bear Bile on your shelf or in your diet?
In recent years, there has been a dramatic growth in the production
of bear bile products, which has spawned a market for a whole new
range of items far removed from the formulations of traditional
Chinese medicine. Today, bile is used as an ingredient in shampoo,
wine, eye drops and all manner of pre-prepared ointments. In 1999,
bottles of bear bile wine were even handed out as gifts for
passengers on internal flights.
There are many alternatives to Bear Bile
There are many alternatives to bear bile on the market, containing
the active constituent found in bear bile: UrsoDeoxyCholic Acid (UDCA).
It is estimated that 100,000 kg of synthesised UDCA is already being
consumed each year in China, Japan and South Korea, and that the
world consumption may be double this figure.
Many Chinese practitioners also state that there are at least 75
herbal alternatives that can replace the use of bear bile.
TAKE ACTION - please help!
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