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LIVING
A
bell rings and bears run
around a feeding ground
which is designed like a natu-
ral forest. They rush to find
their food – vegetables hidden under
the rocks, in wooden mazes, in rock
pools or up trees. Until recently, many
of these bears lived in harsh conditions
and were abused by their owners.
The Asian bile trade has had a
strong impact on local bear popula-
tions. According to Tuan Bendixsen, the
Vietnam director of Animals Asia, bile
from the Asian black bear is believed to
possess healing qualities in traditional
Chinese medicine, but animal rights
groups decry the practice of confining
the creatures to small cages to draw the
liquid from their bodies.
The bile contains the anti-inflam-
matory agent ursodeoxycholic acid and
has long been used in traditonal Asian
medicine. However, bear bile farming,
in which bears are caged and milked
for their bile, has been practised in Viet-
nam for only 20 years. Previously, bears
were killed in the wild for their whole
gall bladders.
Endangered Asiatic black bears,
also known as moon bears, are particu-
larly vulnerable to exploitation because
their bile contains higher concentra-
tions of ursodeoxycholic acid than oth-
er bears’ bile.
During the 1980s, entrepreneurs
began caging moon bears and milk-
ing them for their bile daily, creating
a small but profitable industry, first in
Korea and China, then in Vietnam and
neighbouring countries.
Today, sun bears are also kept
on farms in Vietnam. Under Vietnam-
ese law, both species are category 1B
critically endangered animals and are
therefore legally protected against
hunting, trapping and imprisoning.
They are also protected under the Con-
vention on International Trade in En-
dangered Spices (CITES).
Today, about 2,500 bears are held
on farms throughout Vietnam, even
though bear farming has been illegal in
the country since 1992. Most are moon
bears, but sun bears are also milked for
their bile. Once bile farming was out-
lawed, farmers were allowed to keep
their bears to display to visitors. All the
bears remaining on farms were micro-
chipped so the authorities could stop
the poaching of bears from the wild.
However, in reality, most are still milked
for their bile and poaching remains a
big problem.
Animals Asia has been negotiating
with the Vietnamese government on
this issue since 1999, when there were
only 400 bears on farms.
In Vietnam the bears are kept in
small cages (1m x 1m) in which they
cannot stand up.
“Being kept in this condition, the
bear has immense problems; they are
not allowed to fully exercise and their
body structure will be affected. All they
do is sit all day and night which impacts
8
timeout
Vietnam is home to a
flourishing bear bile
trade, despite laws
which make it illegal.
Animals Asia is leading
the fight against this
cruel practice, highlight-
ing the poor conditions
bears face and the ethi-
cal alternatives to bile.
By
Bich Ngoc
BEAR
rescue