Bear bile and gallbladders have a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine, and are still widely found on the shelves in countries such as China, Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
Since the classification of Asiatic species of bears as endangered or vulnerable, bears have been farmed for their biles, milked on a regular basis through a surgically created hole in their abdomen. The practice is widely considered to be one of the worse kind of systematic animal cruelty in the world. Furthermore, despite claims that this would alleviate the pressure on wild populations that are usually poached for their whole gallbladder, it may in fact have a detrimental effect by marketing the product and increasing demand.
Bear bile has a long history of use in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is widely used in countries such as China, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and Japan. It is classed as a 'bitter' and 'cold' ingredient and used in different traditions to treat a variety of ailments: fevers, burns, swelling, sprains, passing of blood in stools, stomach inflammation or as a general anti-inflammatory, itching and redness of the eyes, liver and heart disease, tooth decay, gallstones, as a generic health tonic, haemorrhoids, as a cough syrup, or generic pain killer. In some parts of the world, bear bile and gallbladders are also believed to have aphrodisiac and life extending qualities.
The demand for bear bile, was initially met by bear hunting, but the increase in demand, as well as the drastic decline in bear populations across Asia led to the practice of bear farming, a practice by which bears are kept in tiny cages and bile is extracted either through a catheter, permanently inserted into the bears' gallbladders, and more commonly now through the free drip method, where a hole is surgically made through the bear's stomach. Some farms only 'milk' the bears once every 3 days, but more usually, once a day, with some reports of milking several times a day. This is extremely painful for the bears, and although their life span is significantly shortened by the process, some bears may live up to 25 years in these conditions. The crammed cages, in some cases crush cages, painful extraction, lack of intellectual stimulation, in some cases lack of food and sleep depravation has led some commentators to say that the trade has led to some of the worse cases of animal abuses ever seen.
Regulations have come into place to stop the worst practices, but a widely held belief that the farms play an important role in the conservation of wild populations, by flooding the market with captive bear products means that there are still an estimated 10'000 bears in farms across Asia. The medicinal properties of bear bile are also used to justify the farms. This, however does not take into account the increasing use of bear by-products in non-medical products, such as cosmetics for skin, whitening agents for eyes, toothpaste, shampoos, wines and soft drinks. Furthermore, a number of experts believe that aggressive marketing tactics employed by the legal trade are leading to an increased demand for these products therefore endangering the wild population further. Increasing popular awareness about wildlife conservation and welfare is having some effect and independent groups are forming across Asia, voicing their concern and campaigning for reforms, as attitudes change. In 2005, Vietnam outlawed bear bile farming and the associated trade, and there are rescue and rehabilitation sanctuaries both in China and Vietnam, working closely with both governments to change the lives of farm bears, both run by Animals Asia.
From a Western medical perspective, the active ingredient in bear bile is ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and is used is used to treat primary biliary cirrhosis, sclerosing cholangitis, colon cancer and gallstone disease. It may also help in the treatment of eye disease, heart attack and neurological disease. There is a synthetic form of UDCA, which is derived from cows rather than bears, and this is sold also in some countries such as South Korea as a liver tonic and to prevent hangovers. Current research suggests that synthetic UDCA is the healthier options, being purer than bear bile, not to mention the potential problems associated with contamination and disease widely found in products farmed from bears. Indeed, farmed bears often die of liver cancer and other diseases.
An increasing number of Traditional Chinese Medical organisations and practitioners are also working to raise awareness and replace bear bile with herbal alternatives such as sage, rhubarb or dandelion. Ongoing research by academics in China into the medicinal potential of certain herbs such as coptis are also extremely promising.
Both the synthetic and alternative herbal products could make the need for bear bile altogether redundant, although some traditional held beliefs in the life enhancing properties of bear parts will be more difficult to dislodge to ensure the future of bear populations worldwide.
We urge you not to buy products that you suspect may contain bear bile, or powdered gallbladder. Ask your health specialist for herbal alternatives or consult a doctor about synthetic UDCA.