 Moonbears are farmed
with cruelty, kept in cages little bigger than themselves the bears
endure extreme pain when bile is extracted on a regular basis.
Animals Asia (Charity) is doing wonderful work purchasing the bears
and providing a Sanctuary whereby the bears can recover and help
the species survive, donations will go to Animals Asia.
One emaciated bear brought to the AAFs rescue centre in Chengdu
was dead on arrival, his body still warm.
One died of prior injuries
and nine more have been euthanised each was riddled with chronic,
liver cancer, as well as a litany of other agonising ailments.
All were in impossibly small cages, all skeletal, wounded in
various ways, and terrified of what would happen in this next
stage of their lives.
Some are blind, some have shattered teeth
and grotesquely ulcerated gums, some have shocking necrotic wounds
their flesh literally rotting down to the bone. Most arrived
with open wounds in their abdomens from the free-drip method
of bile extraction, with some leaking bile, blood and pus. The
number of bears in such an atrocious condition was unprecedented.
This latest rescue brings to 247 the total number of bears Animals
Asia has saved from lives of torture on bile farms in China.
 In July 2000, AAF signed a landmark agreement with the Chinese
authorities to rescue 500 bears in Sichuan province, to work
towards the elimination of bear farming in China and to promote
the herbal alternatives to bear bile.
The farmers are compensated financially so they can either retire
or set up in another business. Their licences are taken away
permanently. But many farmers claim that a new catheter-free,
free-drip method of bile extraction involving the creation of
a permanent hole in the abdomen is painless for the bears and
that the industry, therefore, is now humane. The latest batch
of tormented, disfigured bears provides further proof that the
trade is as brutal as ever.
Consumers in China, Japan and Korea have the highest demand
for bear bile. Bear parts, bile powder and bile products are
also found in Australia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore,
the US and Canada.
It is illegal for bear products to be exported
from China, but the black market trade is thriving.
The bile
is used in traditional medicine for a range of complaints including
fever, liver disease and sore eyes.
Synthetic and herbal alternatives
are readily available.
Two years ago, the European Parliament in Brussels launched
a campaign
to urge the Chinese government to end bear farming
by 2008.
More than 7,000 bears are still trapped in farms throughout
China.
Some have been incarcerated for more than 20 years.
» Animalsasia.com
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