Bile extraction killing bears in Asia

Increasing demand for bear bile, which has been used for centuries for producing traditional medicines, is threatening Asia’s bear population. A survey by the wildlife trade monitoring network, TRAFFIC, found that both the Asiatic black bear and the sun bear are threatened by poaching and illegal trade. This has caused unrelenting pressure on the wild bear population.

Habitat loss and degradation affects much of the wildlife population, says Kaitlyn-Elizabeth Foley, Senior Program Officer of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia. But she says the primary threat to Asian bears is the trade in bear bile products and gall bladders. "In addition to the trade specifically in bear bile, wild meat trade, where bear paws are seen as a delicacy, and the pet trade also put pressure on the wild bear population in Asia."

Alarming levels of illegal trade

"Our surveys found bear bile products in 50 percent or more of traditional medicine outlets surveyed in the territories of China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam. It appeared that China was the most commonly reported source for bear bile products," she adds. While the use of bear bile is legal under strict regulation in countries like China and Japan, Foley says their survey found large quantities of these products were openly displayed and that there were alarming levels of illegal international trade.

"Because the Asiatic black bear and sun bear, most exploited in this trade, are listed on Appendix One of CITES, which is the convention on the trade of endangered species of wild fauna and flora. And when they are on Appendix One, it is forbidden to commercially trade them internationally," says Foley. Even though trade across borders is prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) John Sellar from CITES says smuggling still takes place and that authorities have in some cases been successful in seizing the goods.

A mountain of bear bile

Sellar recalls a case in New Zealand, where the authorities found bear bile being smuggled into the country, "inside bottles of I think it was brandy. I am also aware of information that suggests that people from the Republic of Korea have been visiting facilities in Vietnam where bears are retained in private ownership and that apparently they have been able to purchase bear bile there," adds Stellar.

According to Sellar, many of the countries where the bears are found have long porous borders making it difficult to tackle bear bile smuggling. "It’s smuggled in fairly small quantities and so it’s not difficult to conceal it from border control officers." Sellar says that while there are bear farms, the bile produced from such bears is "not as strong as the same chemical that is produced by bears in the wild. So although farming has helped in many ways to address the demand, there are still people who demand being supplied with the 'real thing.' And so you still have bears that will be poached."

What is unfortunate in this situation, he says, is that the bear farms are producing more bile every year than is wanted. This has not only endangered the animal but has left behind a kind of "bear bile mountain" that simply isn't consumed.

Author: Sherpem Sherpa
Editor: Sarah Berning