Five bears were rescued from a Himalayan bear bile farm in Vietnam. They are currently undergoing rehabilitation in a national park.
In the Vietnamese city of My Tho, a private farm was harvesting bile from live bears. In Asian countries, bear bile is a highly prized medicine, which is why it is harvested in countries such as Vietnam, China, and South Korea.
This Himalayan farm housed five bears for about twenty years. To extract bile, catheters were inserted into their gall bladders. This was done without the use of tranquilizers, which subjected the animals to constant suffering.
The bears were lucky to be found. They were rescued from this nightmare by workers from the non-profit organization Animals Asia. All the animals were rescued from the farm last week and are now undergoing rehabilitation in Tam Dao National Park.
Immediately after the bears' release, a veterinary examination was conducted. It was discovered that all the animals had dental caries and were experiencing frequent joint pain.
Himalayan black bears are listed in the Red Book, and the extraction and use of their bile was banned by law in Vietnam in 1992. However, there are numerous farms that extract bear bile this way and ship it to China. This is because the law can be circumvented. According to the regulation, bears can be kept as pets, which is what the owners of these "farms" are exploiting.
Bear bile contains a highly valuable acid, Urso Deoxycholic Acid, which is primarily used in traditional Chinese medicine. It is used to produce various creams and powders, which, according to the instructions, are beneficial for liver disease. This substance is also used in the production of cosmetics and energy drinks.
Last year, Animals Asia and the Vietnamese agricultural administration signed an agreement to jointly combat bear farms. This agreement aims to free all bears from Vietnamese farms within five years.
In 2005, more than 4,000 bears were known to be in captivity. Last year, their numbers dropped to 1,200 bears, including 400 animals on Vietnamese farms.
