Bears are being tormented for their bile for thousands of years as part of the traditional Asian medicine. In tiny cages lifted above the ground bears suffer from a constant stream of bile seeping from their stomachs where an open wound allows the workers to insert a tube and “tap” their bile out.

The Asian black bear, who is more familiar as the moon bear, is being persecuted by humans for at least 3,000 years, for the making of traditional Chinese medicines. Bears are particularly desired since their gall bladder produces significant amounts of Urodeoxycholic Acid (UCDA), the active agent in bear bile which is believed to protect the liver, reduce fever and inflammation, improve eyesight and break down gallstones.

Since the beginning of bear farming, the uses of bile have expanded into non-traditional medicinal uses such as bear bile shampoo, toothpaste, eye-drops, tea and products such as wine and tonics.

Demand for bear bile products comes mainly from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan. Bear bile products are also found in Australia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, the US and Canada.

The Torture History

In the past, bear bile was obtained by killing wild bears and removing their gall bladders. In the early 1980's as wild bears became increasingly rare, North Korea began to kidnap bear cubs from the wild, cage them, and shove a tube into the their gall bladder through a hole they create in the bears’ stomach and attach a tap to it, so that bile could be extracted on a regular basis.
This horrific technique of extracting bile from captive bears who are alive and fully conscious, was imported to Vietnam and China which is the world’s biggest bile producer.

Nowadays, it is estimated that more than 12,000 bears presently endure this appalling cruelty and neglect, living their whole lives caged and tapped.

How cynical can humans be?
One of the most common arguments made by the bear farming industry is that by farming bears they are actually protecting wild populations.
Their argument: Why would anyone hunt wild bears for their gall bladders when they can get bile from farmed bears?
There is no limit to humans’ cynicism and absurdity.

Bile Extraction Methods

The most common method of bile extraction in China involves the insertion of a steel or latex catheter into the bear‘s gall bladder through a hole cut in the bear‘s abdomen. The catheter outer end, is connected to a detachable plastic bag, held in front of the bear‘s abdomen by a permanent metal harness.

The most common method of bile extraction in Vietnam involves the use of ultrasound equipment to locate the gall bladder then a long syringe is inserted into the bear‘s abdomen to puncture the gall bladder. The bile is then siphoned off into a collecting jar. Repeated puncturing of the gall bladder can lead to infection with many bears dying of peritonitis.

In some cases, bears in Vietnam are subjected to a crude surgery in which the gall bladder is accessed and bile is extracted. Unsanitary conditions and poorly trained staff cause painful, infected wounds, following surgery. According to bear farmers in Vietnam, bears rarely survive more than 3 or 4 such procedures.

In Korea the extraction of bile from live bears is illegal. Instead farmers breed bears and slaughter them in front of their customers to prove the authenticity of the gall bladders.

Life in the Farms

The bears are confined for their entire lives in cages so small that they cannot even turn around or stretch. As a result, many are wounded and scarred from rubbing or hitting themselves against the bars of their cages in frustration.
Some bears survive decades, literally growing into the bars of their cages.
Their footpads are dry and painfully crack from lack of exercise, and many suffer from in-growing claws which pierce their delicate pad tissue. Many become arthritic.

Some bears lose one or even two limbs while violently captured in the wild. In the farm, many bears are deliberately de-clawed or suffer the agony of having their teeth cut back to the gums to remove their defenses and make them easier to handle.

In some cages, sticks are poked in, to further restrict the bear's movement.
Others are in cages that are raised above the floor so that they are constantly forced to lie on their stomachs, allowing the catheter to protrude through the cage bottom, thus facilitating access to the bile.
These bears are usually only allowed to stretch one paw through the cage to grab handful of porridge, which is often the sole component of their diet.
They are rarely given water and therefore rely on this gruel for both solid food and fluid intake.

The bears can survive up to 25 years in this miserable state.
They suffer severe mental problems, from the constant pain and cage confinement.

When the bears stop producing bile they are moved to another cage, where they are either left to starve to death, or are killed for their paws and gall bladders. Bears' paws are considered a delicacy in Vietnam, Cambodia, China and other parts of Asia.

Despite the opposing campaigns held against the bear bile industry for decades now, the industry has grown significantly since Chinese officials first pledged to gradually reduce the number of captive bears from 7,000 to 1,500. Nowadays, it is estimated that there are 12,000 bears tortured on nearly 100 bears farms in China alone. This expansion was partly accelerated by marketing efforts promoting new uses for bear bile such as a hangover remedy for the growing middle class businessmen.

International pressure didn’t help ending this appalling industry in Vietnam either. Despite that it officially banned bile farming a few years ago, it is permitted to keep bears as “pets” and to display them to tourists – a loophole that many farmers are exploiting, and the government turns a blind eye.
The sale of bear bile products is a thriving industry in the country.
In addition, many Vietnamese bear farmers have transferred their operations across the border to Laos, where the number of farms has been growing steadily.

The struggle against the bear bile industry is so desperate that some organizations lay their hopes on the recent initiative by a chinese pharmaceutical company to develop a "synthetic" alternative to bear bile. Only that this "synthetic" "alternative" would be made out of chickens.
If the most realistic option to end the bears suffering is to trade suffering for suffering…
how can you not see that the most realistic option of ending all the suffering is not by looking for the best way to reach agreement with humans, but by finding the best way to get rid of them.