Activists Attempt to End Bear Farm Tourism in China

Bear bile was once a hard-to-find ingredient used in traditional Chinese medicine. Now, however, bear bile is produced commercially at bear farms across Asia. China has the most of such farms. Currently Animals Asia reports an estimated 68 farms housing 7,000 to 10,000 bears. While trade of bear bile products is legal within China, it is illegal for it to cross borders under a treaty called CITES (PRON site-ees) that stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Recently a campaign to stop the movement of bear bile across borders was jointly started by Animals Asia and the Korean Animal Welfare Association. Touring agencies offering so-called "health tours" have been their target. [Ray Zhu, US End Bear Farming Campaign Coord., Animals Asia]: (English) Interview 1 [2:41-3:09]: "We learned from the local travel agency that there are 300,000 South Korean tourists that travel to bear bile farms in Northern China and there are about 30 percent of them that will actually purchase the bear bile and bring it back to South Korea. So that is a very significant number and we understand, if we can reduce that number, it will definitely help us to end bear farming in China." While the campaign aims to quell the market for such products, it ultimately hopes to end the inhumane treatment of bears on such farms and the capture of wild bears. [Richard Thomas, Spokesperson for TRAFFIC]: "The bear species which is almost exclusively used in this trade is the Asian black bear and there's no doubt that the two major threats to that species are habitat loss, but also coupled with the hunting of bears for their skin paws and particularly their gall bladders." Despite bear farming being legal in China, wild bears are still hunted because it is believed they are healthier. Commercially farmed bears are often confined to small cages and routinely have their bile extracted through very painful methods. Because extraction methods are often unhygienic, the bears are often sickly and the bile extracted unsafe. [Ray Zhu, US End Bear Farming Campaign Coord., Animals Asia]: "We have rescued 270 bears in China and for every single one of them we found their bear bile has actually been contaminated, seriously. For example we found puss, urination, antibiotics and even cancer cells in the bear bile." One-hundred forty traditional Chinese medicine practitioners have supported Animals Asia in a campaign called Healing Without Harm. The danger to consumers coupled with the poor treatment of bears has some doctors looking for alternatives. [Ray Zhu, US End Bear Farming Campaign Coord., Animals Asia]: "We got support from many TCM doctors or traditional Chinese medicine doctors in China and they claim that there are over 54 herbal alternatives that actually can replace bear bile." While some doctors believe that the synthetic and herbal alternatives to bear bile will never be a replacement, some are willing to use it for ethical reasons. According to TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network 20 provinces in China have already banned bile farms and public awareness of the industry is growing. For more news and videos visit ☛ http://english.ntdtv.com Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision Add us on Facebook ☛ http://on.fb.me/s5KV2C