Bears rescued from farm allegedly practising bile extraction

1. Exterior of illegal bear farm 2. Close-up of flag ''''Animals Asia Bear Rescue'''' 3. Farm doors open and people carry rescued bear on stretcher 4. Veterinarian 5. Wide shot of bear 6. Close-up on bear''''s head 7. Vet pointing out padlocked metal jacket 8. Animal rescue workers with bear 9. Man cuts padlock 10. Animal rescue workers with bear 11. Vet opens metal compartment to reveal bile collection mechanism 12. Animal rescue worker 13. Close-up of vet showing tube attached to bear''''s abdomen 14. Man drives forklift carrying rescued bear in cage 15. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jill Robinson, Founder and Head of Animals Asia Foundation: "Well, I''''m afraid bear farming is still legal within China and we''''ve still got a long way to go. There''''s still 7-thousand bears kept in these despicable conditions. The rescue is very important because it does allow us to see victims of the older-style latex catheter implantation which we have here but also we''''re getting bears of the new method of bile extraction. Again, none of these methods are humane. Bear farming in any way, shape or form can never be described as humane particularly when there are so many herbal and synthetic alternatives available." 16. Vet getting on truck carrying rescued bears 17. Vet looking at bear in cage 18. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dr. Gail Cochrane, Veterinary Director of Animals Asia Foundation: "We''''re actually seeing a very high incidence of liver tumours and gall bladder tumours in these bears and this is something other veterinarians from China have spoken to me (about) before - and they do believe just the chronic inflamation and the pain associated with these implants or of the free dripping methods are just causing, are just causing changes in the body which may be leading to an increased risk of getting cancer." 19. Wide shot of joint presser by Animals Asia and Tianjin Forestry 20. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin) Wang Yimin, Deputy Director General of Tianjin Forestry Bureau: "Some people consider placing bears and other animals in cages and feeding them at every meal as care and consideration. But this is in fact not the life that the animals want nor is it the environment that is natural to them." 21. Pan from one rescued bear to another in truck 22. Mid shot of bear paws 23. Close up on claws against the cage STORYLINE: Two bears were rescued from an illegal bear farm in China''''s port city of Tianjin on Saturday after newspapers exposed the farm''''s practice in bile extraction. The capture was secured by the Hong Kong based Animals Asia Foundation with the help of local forestry officials. Though initially reluctant, the Tianjin Forestry Bureau agreed to close the farm and handover the bears into the care of Animals Asia at their China Bear Rescue Centre in Sichuan Province. The bears plight was highlighted by a newspaper based in Tianjin and another in Shanghai. Following the story''''s publication, a businessman pledged money in compensation to the farmer, according to Animals Asia which neither revealed the identity of the donor nor the amount of money pledged. The two bears - one a brown bear and one thought to be a brown bear hybrid - both weigh in excess of 200 kilograms and are approximately ten years old. They were believed to have been confined in cages on the farm for nine years. According to Animals Asia, they were originally bought from Jilin by an ethnic Korean farmer and his wife. The foundation said the farmer used an outdated method of bile extraction placing metal jackets around the bear''''s abdomen. According to the Tianjin Forestry officials, the farmer would have been selling the bears bile to Korean consumers living in the north of China. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1b7ea3d258b70324f818b7c28fa10cb2 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork