The Giant Panda mating season is over. Two days ago, Gong Zhu, was the last female panda to mate. And now, the breeding center is getting ready hosting the pregnant pandas! But today´s bulletin will be about our visit a few days ago to Animals Asia Foundation (https://www.animalsasia.org) and about the issue with bear bile farming in China.
Animals Asia is an extremely important international organization that seeks to end cruelty to animals in Asia. The organization was born in order to try to save the Moon bears (Ursus thibetanus) from bile farming. The bear bile (the bile is a digestive fluid produced by the liver) is harvested in farms to be used in Traditional Chinese medicine. Moon bears is the main species used for bile farming, but Sun bears (Helarctos malayanus) and Brown bears (Ursus arctos) are also used. Officially, about 7600 bears are farmed in China. However, for the amount of bile that is being produced, numbers must be higher. Bears are farmed for bile in China, North Korea, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. However, the use of Tradicional Chinese Medicina is widespread and bear bile is used throughout Asian communities all over the world.
Bear bile is used to treat: fever, liver diseases, diseases of the heart and circulation and eye problems. The biles is also put into all kinds of other products such as toothpaste, tonics, and wine. The benefits of the bile have not being scientifically proved and a lot of Traditional Chinese doctors use herbs instead of bear bile. Wild bears usually live from 25-30 years in the wild. In the farms, if they survive the age of 5, they will be killed at around 10, when their productivity decreases. Then their meat, fur and organs are sold. Paw bear is considered a delicacy and I cost over $200. Raw bile can be selled for as much as U.S. $ 24,000 a kilogram (almost half the price of gold!).
All the bears rescued by Animals Asia from farms have serious infections: Many have gall stones, and some have liver cancer. They are all malnourished, and their muscles have wasted away through lack of use. Many of the bears have severe dental disease from having their teeth cut off by the farmers. Some of our beard are blind because of poor nutrition on farms. Bears caught from the wild are often missing limbs from being trapped, and farmers often brutally cut teir claws and teeth to make them safer.
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- Enrichment Toys
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- Moon Bear Facts
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- Tiny Cages
Thank you Maria for the great video, Moon bear facts, and the information about Animals Asia.
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