China Bear Rescue by Dave Neale

The Animals Asia Foundation is dedicated to ending the barbaric practice of bear-bile farming, to provide bile for use in traditional Chinese medicines, by the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Dave Neale introduces the foundations co-operation with Chinese officials and doctors towards this ambitious goal.

Across China, 6764 Asiatic Black Bears, (known as Moon Bears after the golden crescents of fur across their chests), are factory farmed under the most deplorable conditions. Metal catheters implanted deep into their gallbladders enable bear-bile farmers to 'milk' the bears twice daily for their bile, which is used in traditional medicines. The Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) is dedicated to ending this barbaric practice and is currently undertaking the "China Bear Rescue" - a project of epic proportions with the ultimate goal of ending the practice of bear farming by the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Since its establishment in 1998, The Animals Asia Foundation (AAF), has worked with local communities to inspire grassroots projects, and has progressed sensitive and creative programmes with government departments, which help to solve the seemingly insurmountable problems, which the animals face. One such project where the team of Animals Asia have built trust and confidence is the "China Bear Rescue"; a project, working in partnership with the Chinese authorities, with the goal of ending bear farming in China.

Bear Farming

Since the early 1980’s the practice of bear farming has flourished in countries across Asia, including China, Korea, and Vietnam.

Jill Robinson MBE, CEO & Founder of Animals Asia Foundation, exposed Chinese bear-bile farming in 1993, bringing the practice to the attention of the international media. Her horrific discovery was to shock the world. Imprisoned in a dark basement on a farm in southern China, she found bears incarcerated in rusting cages little bigger than their own bodies. The bears had gaping wounds where 7 inch rusting metal catheters had pierced their abdomens and scars from the cage bars running the length of their pain-wracked bodies. Farmed bears are milked of their bile twice daily with the drained bile dried into crystals and used in traditional Chinese medicines. Many of these bears had been in their coffin-like cages for over twenty years.

Tripartite Agreement

In July 2000, following years of intensive work in China, the Animals Asia Foundation signed a tripartite agreement with the government affiliated China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) and the Sichuan State Forestry Administration which pledged to rescue 500 suffering and endangered Moon Bears from a lifetime of pain on the worst farms in Sichuan Province. Sanctioned by the Central Government Department of Wildlife Administration in Beijing, the agreement also pledged to expand the initiative to other provinces and to work toward the total elimination of bear farming countrywide. The agreement was the first of its kind in China and is a unique bond of cooperation between the government authorities and a non-government animal welfare organisation.

The CWCA and the Sichuan Forestry Administration agreed to close down the worst farms and to pass the bears and the bear-farm licences over to Animals Asia. In return Animals Asia agreed to provide sanctuary for the bears, and to help compensate the farmers, which would allow them to support their family whilst seeking alternative employment. The Sichuan Authority offered the use of a former wildlife refuge in Chengdu as a temporary base for the confiscated bears, and so the China Bear Rescue began.

China Bear Rescue

The first farms were closed in October 2000, and the first three bears arrived, at the Animals Asia Rescue Centre in Chengdu at night with a police escort, after enduring an eight hour journey on the back of a pick-up truck. As the bears were carefully unloaded, the team noticed with horror that the male, named Andrew, was missing his front right limb, probably as the result of being snared in the wild by a leg-hold trap.

From the very beginning, Andrew was a true gentleman, showing the team just how intelligent and forgiving this magnificent species can be. Whilst 'Gail' and 'Melody' nervously growled and “woofed” constant warnings, Andrew lay on his back and playfully tugged at the stray pieces of metal protruding from his cage, before delicately licking honey from Jill's outstretched fingers.

Over the next few days, more bears arrived as the Chinese authorities began closing down more farms containing five bears or less. Nothing could prepare the team for the horrifying condition of the bears, all in desperate need of urgent medical attention and all in need of tender loving care. As the team immediately set about making them more comfortable, Veterinary Director, Dr Gail Cochrane emphasised “The first step in their rehabilitation begins with simply allowing the bears time to de-stress and giving them healthy nutritious food to eat – and the security that never again will they have to endure the agony of being milked”.

So small were the cages that some of the bears had literally grown into the metal bars. Their footpads were dry and painfully cracked from lack of exercise and many of the bears suffered from in-growing claws, which had pierced their delicate pad tissue. Some of the bears had been deliberately de-clawed or suffered the agony of having their teeth cut back by the farmers to remove their defences and make them easier to milk.

The psychological stress of imprisonment was all too apparent - the bears rocked backwards and forwards in a frenzied pattern of stereotypic behaviour, banging their heads against the metal bars in a desperate attempt to stimulate their intelligent minds. It is impossible to imagine the pain and suffering that they have endured, yet they continued to humble and amaze everybody involved.

Following emergency medical checks to assess their condition, the bears were then moved in groups to the hospital to undergo extensive surgery (lasting up to eight hours) to remove the catheters and repair the damage to their battered and infected bodies. Months of gentle physiotherapy followed, as the team used sweet treats and honey to encourage them to stretch and strengthen atrophied muscles and increase their confidence.

To date 36 bear farms have been closed down and Animals Asia now has 85 happy, healthy Moon Bears free at last at the rescue centre in Chengdu. Each day sees bears tumbling out of their dens to enjoy the fresh air and the feeling of grass beneath their feet.In December 2002, the Chinese Government Departments of Beijing and Sichuan joined with Animals Asia Foundation in opening the largest Moon Bear Sanctuary in the world.

During the opening of this new sanctuary, Mr. Chen Run Shen, Secretary General of the Beijing based China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA), a Government Department of the State Forestry Administration, publicly announced several crucial statements from the Central Government:

1. Currently the number of bear farms in China has greatly reduced and the number of bears on farms has not increased. The international reports of the 9000 figure is pure speculation and has no grounding at all.

2. The CWCA confirms that the China Central Government has no plans or intentions to commercialise the usage of bear bile on the international market.

3. The CWCA, on behalf of the Chinese Central Government, fully supports and recognises the efforts of the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) in the rescue of Moon bears in China. We will continue to support the work of the AAF and together with the AAF we will achieve our final objective of terminating bear farming in China."

Mr. Chen added: "We humans have only one planet - however the planet does not belong to us, it belongs to the animals as well. We should treat animals better."

Professor Liu Zhen Cai, a Chinese Traditional Medicine Practitioner, also gave a formal statement on behalf of his medical colleagues: "I have been a practitioner of Chinese medicine for over 40 years and have never used bear bile," he said. "Today we have over 50 herbal alternatives and synthetic medicines which have the same efficacy as bear bile - and there is no need for bears to suffer any longer."

Mr. David Bleyle, US Consul General in Sichuan also joined the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in Chengdu and pledged his support for the rescue and for ending bear farming in China: "Today marks an important step in the Government's commitment to work with Animals Asia and to end a cruel and unnecessary trade in China" he said. "We encourage the ongoing closure of the farms and urgent attention towards the end of bear farming once and for all."

As the first phase of the enclosed bamboo forest sanctuary was formally opened, the first group of farmed bears rescued in October 2000 took hesitant steps into the forest. As the den doors opened, bears Jasper and Aussie cautiously raised their noses to the air and breathed in the smell of a natural environment, which was far removed from their lives on a farm.

As the bears slowly disappeared into the forest, Jill Robinson said she was cautiously optimistic that the announcements by the Government in China were a sincere endeavour to end the trade in bile extraction and bear farming and hoped this could happen by the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. But "We can never forget that thousands of bears are still suffering on farms for a practice which is outdated and cruel. However, today, the China Bear Rescue is now becoming a symbol for animal protection and conservation and we have reason to believe that there is progress - and hope - for farmed bears in China."

This new bamboo forest sanctuary will house 100 bears and will be open to tourists later next year: enabling people to enjoy the vision of previously farmed bears now living in a natural environment.

Jill Robinson said, "The sanctuary will allow them to live their lives as bears. It gives them bamboo forest for the first time - something they were born to but have not experienced," she said. Dens have been built to give the bears places where they can have privacy and separate areas are furnished with hanging basket "beds" and access to stimulating toys.

However, the bears were not capable of living entirely without human help because of the years they spent on farms, she said.

The remaining temporary bear rescue centre is now being transformed into a hospital for newly rescued bears, and Animals Asia are now preparing to receive another group of bears from bear-bile farms closed down by the Chinese authorities.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Animals Asia remains committed to working with government departments to bring this terrible practice ever closer to an end, whilst continuing to work with Chinese medical practitioners to source and promote the abundant herbal alternatives to bear bile.

By harmonizing Traditional Oriental Medicine with animal welfare, Animals Asia is asking Doctors to consider animals as sentient beings - capable of feeling discomfort, misery and pain - and to reduce or replace them wherever possible.

Major medical associations are now pledging to replace endangered species with the non-endangered plant derived alternatives. Additionally, they are going one step further and pledging, wherever possible, to prescribe alternatives for every other animal derivatives used in Traditional Oriental medicines and preparations.

Among these groups, with thousands of members between them, are; the National Association of Chinese Medicine, the Chinese Association of Medicine and Philosophy, the Practicing Pharmacists Association of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Chinese Herbalist Association.

This initiative is also greatly encouraged and supported by the traditional medicine department of the Middlesex University in the UK, under the innovative leadership of Dr. Henry Lee.

Traditional Medicine Facts

Traditional Medicine provides healthcare for between a quarter and a half of the world's population, and China currently exports about US$600 million worth of traditional Chinese medicines yearly worldwide. Herbal medicine sales in the UK have soared by over 70% in the past five years, and by a staggering 280% in the USA in the past ten years.

The international trade in animal parts is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty signed by 151 countries, which regulates international commercial trade in wild animals and plants, as well as their parts and products.

Animal ingredients amount to less than 10% of the Traditional Oriental Medicine pharmacopoeia; less than 3% of which comes from endangered animals. However, this seemingly negligible statistic disguises the critical plight of animals whose numbers are dwindling, and who suffer unimaginable cruelty, as a result of the growing global popularity and expansion of Traditional Medicine.

Few of the major traditional medicine producing and consuming countries have anti-cruelty laws. Therefore, with little or no legislation to protect species from cruelty in trapping, farming, transport and slaughter, millions of animals experience appalling suffering as a result.

Traditional Oriental Medicine provides healthcare for between a quarter and a half of the world's population, and China currently exports about US$600 million worth of traditional Chinese medicines yearly worldwide. Herbal medicine sales in the UK have soared by over 70% in the past five years, and by a staggering 280% in the USA in the past ten years.

The international trade in animal parts is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty signed by 151 countries, which regulates international commercial trade in wild animals and plants, as well as there parts and products.

Animals Asia’s unique approach, working alongside the local community, and with local and national governments, to develop solutions to animal welfare problems, is committed to ending bear farming in China, and working towards reducing the use of animal products in traditional medicines throughout the world.

You can help by sending donations to the Animals Asia Foundation,
PO Box 5713, Clacton on Sea, CO15 6QT.

The team can be contacted on Tel: 0870 241 3723, Fax: 0870 225 6062, or by email on dneale@animalsasia.org, or see the website at www.animalsasia.org. Cheques can be made payable to ‘Animals Asia Foundation’

The Animals Asia team are particularly interested in hearing from people and companies that are interested in sponsoring the China Bear Rescue and so being part of the largest bear rescue project in the world.