A caged moon bear arrives at the Moon Bear Rescue Centre. © AAF13 sick and malnourished moon bears were rescued from Chinese bile farms on Friday by an animal welfare group.
The Sichuan Forestry Protection Department handed over the bears to Animals Asia, which took them to its Moon Bear Rescue Centre in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
Moon bears, who get their name from the distinctive yellow crescent moon marking on their chests, are farmed in China for their bile, a traditional ingredient in Chinese medicine.
The bears are kept in tiny, cramped cages and have holes made in their abdomen through which the bile drains. The practise was developed in order to limit the numbers of bears killed for their gall bladders, though despite this Animals Asia says the bears are often still poached by hunters.
According to official estimates, the number of farmed bears is around 7,000, although Animals Asia says that the real number may be closer to 10,000. It is estimated that there are only around 16,000 moon bears left in the wild, a problem made worse by loss of natural habitat.
The bear rescues are part of a deal made in 2000 between Animals Asia and the China Wildlife Conservation Association to remove 500 bears from illegal or badly-run farms in Sichuan Province. The bear farms are compensated for the animals and the farms are closed down, with the licenses handed over to Animals Asia. So far the group has rescued 260 bears.
Of the 13 bears rescued on Friday, one bear had to be put down because of advanced liver disease. The rest were quarantined, where they were given fruit shakes and fruit kebabs, along with straw to sleep on. On Saturday the bears were given thorough health checks and transferred into roomy recovery cages. Many of the bears will be given surgery over the next few weeks.
Along with the holes in their abdomens, which often become infected, farmed bears can suffer from a host of other problems, including worn teeth and sores from bar-biting. In particular, the rescue team were checking for signs of liver cancer, one of the most frequent problems they have encountered in bears treated this way.
“Most of the bears that arrived today had scars and wounds on their heads as a result of repetitive bar-rubbing during their years on the farm. In short, they are cage-crazy," said Jill Robinson, founder and CEO of Animals Asia.
“Some of these bears are clearly sick and it will take a few days before we can determine the full extent of their injuries, " added senior vet Heather Bacon.
"We fear more may have liver cancer as this is often the case with bears that have been tapped for their bile. But even if we are forced to euthanise others, at least their suffering will be over soon."
With rehabilitation, the bears will hopefully make a full recovery at the Moon Bear Rescue Centre, which provides them with a semi-natural environment where they can be cared for and monitored.
Animals Asia is working to promote herbal and synthetic substitutes to bear bile, which are already used widely in Japan, Korea and China.
UPDATE: To see how the bears are recovering, click here.
To learn more about the moon bears and the work of Animals Asia, visit animalsasia.org.
Source: Animals Asia.
moon bear
China
conservation
I don't understand why they need to harvest these bears for their bile, when I am producing enough bile in my throat right now, by just thinking about the injustice.
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