Animals Asia Foundation Report Compromised health and welfare of bears in China’s bear bile farming industry, with special reference to the free-dripping bile extraction technique March 2007 Kati Loeffler, DVM, PhD Email: katiloeffl
[email protected] Jill Robinson, MBE
[email protected] Gail Cochrane, BVMS, MRCVS
[email protected] Animals Asia Foundation, GPO Box 374, General Post Office, Hong Kong www.animalsasia.org ABSTRACT The practice of farming bears for bile extraction is legal in China and involves an estimated 7,000 bears, primarily Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus). This document describes bear farming in China, with an emphasis on the health and disease of the bears and the long-term effects of bile extraction. Gross pathology of the gall bladder and surrounding abdominal tissues is described. The data presented here establishes the inhumanity of bear bile farming on the grounds that it severely and unavoidably compromises the physical and psychological health of the bears and that it violates every code of ethical conduct regarding the treatment of animals. All considerations of ethics, wildlife conservation, veterinary medicine and, ultimately, economics, lead to the conclusion that bear bile farming is an unacceptable practice and must end. INTRODUCTION Bears farmed for extraction of their bile are generally confined to cages the size of their bodies; are deprived of food, water and movement; suffer chronic pain, illness and abuse; and live with holes in their abdomens, from which the “liquid gold” of a multi-million dollar industry flows. Bear bile farming is legal in China and involves an estimated 7,000 bears, primarily Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus).