Bears being tortured in the name of 'Traditional Chinese Medicine'

Dave!

The Chinese media has reported on an extraordinary account of a mother bear saving her cub from a life of torture by strangling it and then killing itself.

The bears were kept in a farm located in a remote area in the North-West of China. The bears on the farm had their gall bladders milked daily for 'bear bile,' which is used as a remedy in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

It was reported that the bears are kept in tiny cages known as 'crush cages', as the bears have no room to manoeuvre and are literally crushed.

The bile is harvested by making a permanent hole or fistula in the bears' abdomen and gall bladder.

As the hole is never closed, the animals are suspect to various infections and diseases including tumours, cancers and death from peritonitis.

The bears are fitted with an iron vest, as they often try to kill themselves by hitting their stomach as they are unable to bear the pain.

A person who was on the farm in place of a friend witnessed the procedures and told Reminbao.com that they were inhumane.

The witness also claimed that a mother bear broke out its cage when it heard its cub howl in fear before a worker punctured its stomach to milk the bile.

The workers ran away in fear when they saw the mother bear rushing to its cub's side.

Unable to free the cub from its restraints, the mother hugged the cub and eventually strangled it.

It then dropped the cub and ran head-first into a wall, killing itself.

Many TCM practitioners have denounced the use of bear bile in their treatment as there are cheaper herbs and synthetics that can be used in its place.

Bear bile is traditionally used to remove 'heat' from the body as well as treat high fever, liver ailments and sore eyes.

http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%...05-292947.html

Sickening... I had no idea about this

snowstreams

That is totally awful alright.
I was aware that Chinese medicine did drain bile from bears gall bladders. But I had no idea that it was so painful.
Chinese traditional medicine causes an awful lot of problems, from endangering sharks due to shark finning to killing rhino's for their horns.
I don't understand how they could be that cruel to the bears if they know the bears are so intelligent

Adam Khor

Yeh, I knew about this, it's revolting. Seriously, people in this "business" should all be fed to hungry wild bears.

Dave!

snowstreams wrote: »

That is totally awful alright.
I was aware that Chinese medicine did drain bile from bears gall bladders. But I had no idea that it was so painful.
Chinese traditional medicine causes an awful lot of problems, from endangering sharks due to shark finning to killing rhino's for their horns.
I don't understand how they could be that cruel to the bears if they know the bears are so intelligent

Would love to think that these treatments are at least efficacious beyond placebo, but I doubt it... Pointless tradition and mysticism.

steddyeddy

I dont know what to say this. Words fail me. The thing about these chinese medicines and what have you is that either they dont work or have synthetic alternatves. Rhinos die because people think the horn has medicinal properties yet it is composed of the same thing as our fingernails more or less and now bile is harvested from bears even though we have alternatives. The fact that bile is leaving the liver in this unsanitory fashion has to cause the bear a lot of pain, bile is an acid after all.

Sid_Justice

I think bile is an alkaline substance, google tells me human bile has a typical ph between 7.5 and 8. It does contain bile salts, steroid acids though. Function of bile i believe is emulsification of fats and promoting absorption.

Ox bile seems to be a common 'alternative medicine', I can't find any information on how it is harvested. hopefully more humane than the bear method.

Not to make gross sweeping statements of a population of over a billion people but it has always struct me that the Chinese (and other Eastern Asian countries like Japan) have very different attitudes towards what is humane and what is acceptable treatment for animals, wild, lifestock and pets then 'Westerners'.

The use of tissues from endangered species for spurious herbal medicines from tiger penis aphrodisiacs to snake oil painkillers is in my opinion ethically, morally, and ecologically criminal and those responsible should be shot.

The documentary on Japanese dolphin hunting 'The Cove' is absolutely essential viewing for anyone that loves zoology even though it will make your blood boil.

Adam Khor

Sid_Justice wrote: »

The documentary on Japanese dolphin hunting 'The Cove' is absolutely essential viewing for anyone that loves zoology even though it will make your blood boil.

I love zoology yet I have refrained from seeing that documentary. I don´t know if I can take it. Recently there was a documentary by a French guy I think, about ocean life. It was all incredibly beautiful, until it got to the ugly part; dolphins being caught and dying in fishing nets, whales being harpooned and hauled into boats, and the part that disturbed me the most, shark finning, in which sharks are mutilated (their fins cut off while the animal is still alive), then thrown back to the sea, where they sink to the bottom to drown or bleed to death.
The footage was all faked- the filmmaker didn´t want to film the actual thing. But the animatronics used where very realistic and the images were really scarring.

Its not about the Chinese or Japanese; animals suffer a lot in the entire world because of humans. Sharks are finned and killed in a most cruel manner every single day in the Western world. Animals in circuses are tortured every day, birds are kept in diminutive cages, all sort of creatures are used by labs to experiment new cosmetics. Not to speak of bull fighting which is still legal in several countries I've heard that bulls are actually half-blinded with chilli-pepper powder so that they are angrier AND less dangerous to the "brave" bullfighter.

Yes, whales and dolphins are somewhat safer in Western waters but... they are among the very few lucky ones.

Sid_Justice

I totally agree with you, when i was watching the whale dissection thing they were showing some footage of harpooning and i had to change channel. No problem watching a dissection but no stomach for hunting.

I think the UK released recent legislation or what ever the legal jargon is for banning of wild animals in circuses and similar acts. I fully support it and I hope it sets a precedent for things in Ireland and the rest of the world.

On the one hand i can see the benefit in a sense, of having such animals raise awareness, interest and respect for wild animals but ultimately, taking a wild creature like a cat, an elephant or a monkey, and then have it perform in such a unnatural way is a despicable activity.

I think if you follow the argument to its logical conclusion it is difficult to defend Zoos, even modern massive ones.

Sid_Justice

Adam Khor wrote: »

Not to speak of bull fighting which is still legal in several countries I've heard that bulls are actually half-blinded with chilli-.

I won't get started on bull fighting. It's such a sham, such a cowardly farce that only the truly pathetic can enjoy. Firstly the odds are stacked against the bull as you've mentioned, secondly, the matadors come and go being substituted like a soccer team while the angry bull grows further and further exhausted. The slashing of the swords open wounds which bleed which further drain the animal. Absolutely disgusting.

Adam Khor

Sid_Justice wrote: »

I totally agree with you, when i was watching the whale dissection thing they were showing some footage of harpooning and i had to change channel. No problem watching a dissection but no stomach for hunting.

I think the UK released recent legislation or what ever the legal jargon is for banning of wild animals in circuses and similar acts. I fully support it and I hope it sets a precedent for things in Ireland and the rest of the world.

On the one hand i can see the benefit in a sense, of having such animals raise awareness, interest and respect for wild animals but ultimately, taking a wild creature like a cat, an elephant or a monkey, and then have it perform in such a unnatural way is a despicable activity.

I think if you follow the argument to its logical conclusion it is difficult to defend Zoos, even modern massive ones.

I agree. I love visiting my city's zoo because I am fascinated by all sorts of creatures... but at the same time, it's heartbreaking to see them condemned to captivity. Even a brief glimpse of a wild animal in its natural habitat is more impressive than a zoo animal. Like I say, magic stop beings magic when you put it in a jar.

By the way, I think Bolivia, the poorest South American country, has already banned animals from circuses completely. Shame on more "developed" countries. They should set the example for the rest, not follow it.

Adam Khor

As for the story of the mother bear killing her cub to spare him a life of suffering and then commiting suicide... I don´t give a damn about what scientists say, I believe the story. My father had a dog who commited suicide after his best (dog) friend passed away. I think animals are more complex than we give them credit for. I can totally see a bear commiting suicide as well and honestly, who can blame her?