China bear bile industry exposed

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http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2001/12/12042001/reu_bears_45765.asp

 

China bear bile industry exposed

 

Tuesday, December 04, 2001

By Reuters

 

BEIJING--Some of the black bears at the Dianchuan and

Dianye bile factories in China's southwestern Yunnan

province gnawed at their own paws to relieve the pain.

 

 

Others in the cramped cages were not so lucky, having

had their teeth and claws sawed off so they would not

hurt their minders.

 

Cramped, ill and in agony, hundreds, possibly more

than 1,000, endangered black bears got good news when

Chinese journalists uncovered two illegal bear bile

factories where they were milked for their bile for

use in Chinese medicine, state television said on

Monday.

 

Footage of one factory filmed by undercover reporters

aired on China Central Television (CCTV) on Monday,

showing the bears in small cages with surgically

implanted tubes and valves for collection of bile.

 

" This valve is just like a bicycle valve, there is a

spring in it. If you pull the spring down, the bile

dribbles out, and if you pull it up it stops, " the

unidentified director of the factory said.

 

" The bear is used to it. "

 

Yet the footage showed bears yelping in pain as

keepers extracted the bright green liquid, which has

been harvested for thousands of years in Asia and is

believed to be useful in treating fever, liver

illnesses and sore eyes.

 

At the second factory, the bears have their teeth and

claws removed so they are not a threat to their

handlers.

 

" All their teeth have been sawed off. The teeth were

quite long before we sawed them off. We cut off the

claws, so you can't see them now, " an unidentified

bear keeper at Dianye Factory said.

 

INHUMANE CONDITIONS

 

Bear bile farms began in the 1980s in Asia after North

Korea developed the method of bile tapping with

catheters. China quickly adopted the practice thinking

it would reduce the number of bears killed in the wild

for their bile.

 

The industry in China mushroomed in the early 1990s

when the number of captive bears hit 10,000 in 480

bear farms.

 

It was also then that bear bile prices rocketed to

$2,400 per kg. With the advent of synthetic bear bile

and greater awareness of the inhumane method of

harvesting, the price has since plunged to 2,000 yuan

per kg, according to some reports.

 

However, the China Daily reported in August last year

that one restaurant sold bear bile for 1,800 yuan per

100 ml. The paper said collecting bile from live bears

had been banned by the Chinese Government and that

black bears were protected by the Chinese Wildlife

Protection Law.

 

Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners say there

are herbs that serve the same purposes as bear bile,

which is drawn from their gallbladders up to twice a

day.

 

And animal rights activists have been up in arms over

the squalid and inhumane conditions in the illegal

factories.

 

The surgery on the bears, often with unsterilised

equipment, often leads to chronic infections, some

have said.

 

The London-based World Society for the Protection of

Animals (WSPA), said bears living in cramped cages or

metal crates suffer from sores, bone deformities, bad

food, poor hygiene and poor veterinary care.

 

The group launched a campaign in May protesting

China's bid for the 2008 Olympics, saying its animal

welfare record, particularly the prevalence of

horrific bear bile farms, should disqualify the

country.

 

In July, China won the right to host the games.

 

Copyright 2001, Reuters

 

 

 

 

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