Hostname: page-component-6dbcb7884d-lhnfz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-13T22:50:01.115Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Compromised health and welfare of bears farmed for bile in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

IK Loeffler ,
J Robinson  and
G Cochrane
IK Loeffler*
Affiliation:
International Fund for Animal Welfare, Room 908 Golden Tower No 1, Xibahe South Rd, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100028, China
J Robinson
Affiliation:
Animals Asia Foundation Ltd, GPO Box 374, Hong Kong
G Cochrane
Affiliation:
Tai Wai Small Animal and Exotic Hospital, 75 Chik Shun Street, Tai Wai, Hong Kong
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: katiloeffler@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The practice of farming bears for bile extraction is legal in China and involves an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 animals, primarily Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus). This study outlines the compromises to health and welfare suffered by bears on bile farms and is based on the results of visits to more than 50 bear farms; 15 years’ worth of interviews with bear farmers, Chinese officials, practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine and vendors dealing in bear parts; and from the observation and care of approximately 250 bears that have been rescued from bile farms. Bears that have been rescued from farms display evidence of severe and chronic physical and psychological suffering. Medical complications arising from the husbandry and the gall bladder fistulation significantly, and often fatally, compromise bears’ health.

Keywords

animal welfareAsiatic black bearbear bilebile farmingChinagall bladder
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , August 2009 , pp. 225 - 235
Copyright
© 2009 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Associated Press 2006 Four Chinatown merchants arrested for selling bear bile. The Herald: Monterey, CA, USA. http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/15735325.htmGoogle Scholar
Bergeron, R, Badnell-Waters, A, Lambton, S and Mason, GJ 2006 Sterotypic oral behaviour in captive ungulates: foraging, diet and gastrointestinal function. In: Mason, GJ and Rushen, J (eds) Stereotypic Animal Behaviour: Fundamentals and Applications to Welfare pp 19–57. CABI: Oxfordshire, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broom, DM 1991 Animal welfare: concepts and measurement. Journal of Animal Science 69: 4167–4175CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlstead, K, Seidensticker, J and Baldwin, R 1991 Environmental enrichment for zoo bears. Zoo Biology 10: 3–16CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapman, RW 1999 Risk factors for biliary tract carcinogenesis. Annals of Oncology 10: S308–S311CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chiang, G 2007 What's that red label in the TCM shop? Singapore News: SingaporeGoogle Scholar
Diedrich, J 2007 Bear bile sends US agents to home. Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee, WI, USA. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=627812Google Scholar
Fan, Z and Song, Y 1999 The development of bear farming in China. In: Williamson, DF and Phipps, MJ (eds) Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on the Trade in Bear Parts pp 100–109. 26-28 October 1999, Seoul, South KoreaGoogle Scholar
Farm Animal Welfare Council 2007 Report on Stockmanship and Farm Animal Welfare. Farm Animal Welfare Council: London, UK. www.fawc.org.uk/freedoms.htm;www.fawc.org.uk/pdf/stockmanship-report0607.pdfGoogle Scholar
Garshelis, DL and Steinmetz, R 2008 Ursus thibetanus, Asiatic black bear. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available from http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed March 2009)Google Scholar
Green, MJB, Taylor, PM, Xu, HFY and Lee, SKH 2006 A framework for assessing the sustainability of wildlife farming in China. In: McNeely, JAM, McCarthy, T, Smith, A, Olsvig-Whittaker, L and Wickramanayake, ED (eds) Conservation Biology in Asia pp 427–449. Society of Conservation Biology Asia Section and Resources Himalaya Foundation: Kathmandu, NepalGoogle Scholar
Green, WH, Campbell, M, David, R 1984 Psychosocial dwarfism: a critical review of the evidence. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry 23: 39–48Google Scholar
Latham, N 2005 Refining the role of stereotypic behaviour in the assessment of welfare: stress, general motor persistence and early environment in the development of abnormal behaviour. PhD dissertation, Oxford University, Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Lee, TJ 2007 Chinese medicine shops busted in bear goods sting. The New Paper: Singapore. http://www.wildsingapore.com/news/20070304/070302-1.htm#npGoogle Scholar
Lee, YJ 1999 The use of bear bile as medicine versus tonic. In: Williamson, DF and Phipps, M (eds) Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on the Trade in Bear Parts pp 122–126. 26-28 October 1999, Seoul, South KoreaGoogle Scholar
Li, PJ 2004 China's bear farming and long-term solutions. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 7: 71–80CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, Z 2004 TCM history shows that bear bile is not a necessary medicine. Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Zoology, Symposium: Bear Farming pp 46–48. 23-27 August 2004, Beijing, ChinaGoogle Scholar
Mano, T and Ishii, N 2008 Bear gallbladder trade issues and a framework for bear management in Japan. Ursus 19: 122–129Google Scholar
Mason, GJ 1996 Early weaning enhances the later development of stereotypy in mink. In: Duncan, I, Widowsky, T and Haley, D (eds) Proceedings of the 30th International Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology pp 6. 14-17 August 1996, Guelph, CanadaGoogle Scholar
Mason, GJ 2006a Maternal deprivation and stereotypy in animals other than primates. In: Mason, GJ and Rushen, J (eds) Stereotypic Animal Behaviour: Fundamentals and Applications to Welfare pp 170. CABI: Oxfordshire, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, GJ 2006b Stereotypic behaviour in captive animals: fundamentals and implications for welfare and beyond. In: Mason, GJ and Rushen, J (eds) Stereotypic Animal Behaviour: Fundamentals and Applications to Welfare pp 325–356. CABI: Oxfordshire, UKGoogle Scholar
Parry, S 2007 Bad medicine. South China Morning Post: Hong Kong. http://totallyhk.scmp.com/thkarts/ZZZ4J7TPV0F.htmlGoogle Scholar
Phillips, T and Wilson, P 2002 The Bear Bile Business: The Global Trade in Bear Products from China to Asia and Beyond. World Society for the Protection of Animals: London UK. http://www.wspa.ca/reports/thebearbilebusiness/1-14.pdfGoogle Scholar
Pong, S, Lo, YW and Ho, KC 1999 Herbal alternatives to bear bile. Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on the Trade in Bear Parts pp 154–157. 26-28 October 1999, Seoul, South KoreaGoogle Scholar
Roberts, A 1999 A case for a uniform global ban on the trade in bear parts and derivatives (a perspective from the United States). In: Williamson, DF and Phipps, M (eds) Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on the Trade in Bear Parts pp 138–152. 26-28 October 1999, Seoul, South KoreaGoogle Scholar
Robinson, J 1994 Conference summary. In: Robinson, J (ed) Proceedings of the Third East Asiatic Bear Conference pp 1–15. 4-8 August 1994, Beijing, ChinaGoogle Scholar
Schottenfeld, D and Beebe-Dimmer, J 2006 Chronic inflammation: a common and important factor in the pathogenesis of neoplasia. CA Cancer Journal for Clinicians 56: 69–83CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Snyder, RJ, Tian, YZ, Bloomsmith, MA, Forthman, DL, Zhang, A, Zhang, ZH, Li, GH, Huang, XM, Luo, L and Maple, TL 2003 Behavioral and developmental consequences of early rearing experience for captive giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). Journal of Comparative Psychology 117: 235–245CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vickery, SS and Mason, GJ 2004 Stereotypic behavior in Asiatic Black and Malayan Sun Bears. Zoo Biology 23: 409–430Google Scholar
Vince, G 2002 Organized gangs target wildlife trade. New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2413-organised-gangs-target-wildlife-trade.htmlGoogle Scholar