Page 6 - Animals Asia Review 2013

Ending Bear Bile Farming

Spotlight on the bile industry

Now celebrating 15 years of Animals Asia, our hardworking Help at the top
China team is determined to see the bear bile industry held Members of China’s top political bodies are iling proposals to

to scrutiny.end bear bile farming; the former Chief Vet of the Agricultural
Department has joined our campaign; the oficial newspaper
Initial results of our 2013 survey* show a dramatic shift in of the China People’s Political Consultancy Committee

attitude and give us added incentive to step up our campaign.(CPPCC) interviewed our founder Jill Robinson and called for
win-win solutions to end bear bile farming.
86
the big picture

%
Toby Zhang, our China Director of External Affairs, outlines a
few of our plans:
of Chinese are opposed
• Form a government-led coalition of bear farmers, vets,
to bear farmingNGOs, traditional doctors to work on solutions.

• Urge an immediate halt to breeding of bears on bile
farms as well as increased measures to ensure no more
bears enter farms from the wild – in accordance with an

iUCn resolution signed by China in 2012.6
8161%
• Raise Asiatic black bears from Category II protection status %
to Category I.
%
• Review all bear bile drugs and lobby to suspend them.
when told that bile was
• focus on stopping new bear bile drug approval.extracted from sick bears, the
number of consumers who
• Make oficials aware that bear bile smuggling is a serious
offence.would continue to use bile
did not know how bear dropped from 61 per cent to
bile was extracted6 per cent

*2,280 people (including 161 bile consumers) in eight Chinese cities took
part in our survey.

in the news
Our investigators visited registered bile farms in nine provinces,

gathering information such as the number of bears, the bears’
general health and living conditions, whether the farm was
selling bile illegally and whether it conformed to regulations.

We also obtained video clips including bear bile extraction,
direct selling to consumers, shops in different cities illegally
selling bear bile “juice”, and bear paw selling. Our research

proved helpful to the media in shedding light on the industry.

Cocktail of antibiotics
Our research exposed massive and indiscriminate use of a

cocktail of antibiotic drugs throughout farmed bears’ lives.

Bear Rescue Corps

In 2013, we launched the Bear Rescue Corps in China, giving
inluential supporters an online platform to connect and help.

• Members are helping to monitor bear farms, and report
illegal farms.

• Members are organising presentations, workshops, etc.

• Business owners are promoting our work in their
workplaces, and donating to help the bears.

• Lawyers are giving us legal assistance.

• Members are introducing us to important contacts, who
can help.

6 Animals Asia Review 2013