Asian black bears’ gallbladders were milked for bile used in traditional cures.
Asian black bears’ gallbladders were milked for bile used in traditional cures.
Two Asian black bears were rescued after spending nearly 20 years in dark, dank cellars where their bile was harvested for traditional medicines.
Four Paws, an international animal-rights organization, rescued the bears, named Mo and Xuan, from their tiny cages in Vietnam on March 23.
“Xuan, like most former bile bears, suffers multiple diseases, and due to his extremely difficult past, he is struggling with severe behavioral abnormalities,” Four Paws stated.
His condition worsened, and he developed pancreatitis and gastritis, according to the organization.
“He spent the next few days in the allocated area for hospitalized patients in our veterinary clinic at the Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary for close monitoring and further treatment.
“Unfortunately Xuan is one of many rescued animals that had to endure years of trauma, leaving not only physical but also psychological scars. When these animals are rescued and brought to a safe and suitable place, they might not immediately understand or recognize their horrible past is behind them. A successful rescue itself often signals the start of our work, not the finish.”
Xuan and Mo are in such poor health it is unclear if they will ever recover or be able to socialize with other bears, according to a spokesperson for the animal rights group.
Four Paws press officer Katharina Braun told Zenger News that despite Asian black bears (Ursus thibetanus) being listed as endangered on the IUCN’s Red List, the unnamed owners will not be prosecuted because keeping bears is legal in Vietnam.
The only reason the organization was able to rescue them was because their bile was being harvested, a banned practice.
“The country only has minimum requirements for the keeping of bears,” Braun said. “Even if the keeping conditions do not align with those requirements, it is unlikely the authorities would act. Every animal is placed in species-appropriate care like ours is a big success.”
Xuan and Mo were rescued in northwestern Vietnam, and according to Braun, they only ever saw artificial light when they were being fed.
Xuan, a male, was allegedly kept in the cage since 2004 when he was a cub. It is unclear how long the female, Mo, was held captive, but it is believed to have been many years.
Four Paws said that 372 bears in Vietnam are “still suffering in cruel conditions on bear farms or in private keeping.”
The organization said the team that rescued the bears, while experienced, were left “speechless by the cruelty they encountered.”
“Their rusty cages were small and dirty, and there was no access to fresh air and poor ventilation in the windowless basement,” the organization stated. “Xuan and Mo will now receive all the care they need to recover from the ordeal they had to suffer.”
The sanctuary is home to some 40 Asiatic black bears, all of which were “not only victims of cruel bile farming prior to their rescue, but also of illegal wildlife trafficking.”.
Braun said that “bear bile is used in traditional medicine but also in cosmetic products.”
She said the “reasons for this are tradition and conviction that bear bile can have particularly positive healing effects. Used to fight fever, for detoxification, against inflammation, swelling and to reduce pain, the active ingredient with medicinal value in bear bile is ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). Since the 1950s, the substance UDCA can be replaced by herbal and synthetic alternatives.
“For the animals, this means a life of agony and in many cases, unfortunately, ends with the death of the bears on farms.”
In 2005, she said, “the government of Vietnam launched a campaign to phase out bear farming through attrition. All captive bears were registered and microchipped as part of an effort to ensure that no new bears enter farms. However, registered bears are in the care of bear farmers until they can be transferred to authorities or die.
“If there had been only 10 bears in captivity in 2005, all of them would have been confiscated. It was the number of captive bears on farms that prevented the government from exercising the law to address the problem. However, it is true the attitude of government and society was that bear bile is useful and that although the law prohibits its sale, this law was ignored because it did not reflect social attitudes and norms,” Braun said.
Braun said since 2006 “it is forbidden by law in Vietnam to hunt, trap, possess, kill, sell, or advertise bear or bear products. It is not forbidden to possess a bear if the bear has been registered and has been privately owned prior to the mandatory registration process introduced by the government in 2005.
“This must end, and the government must act and deliver on its promise,” she said. “We are putting pressure on them via our work on-site at Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary, petitions and lobbying/talks onsite. We are supporting them to provide a species-appropriate home to as many suffering bears as possible.”
At present, Xuan and Mo are being closely watched in their new home.
“They are, for now, in a quarantine area to prevent any potential disease transfer between them and our resident bears,” Braun said. During this time, they receive intensive medical care, are gradually adjusted to a new healthy diet, and are monitored closely by our caretaker team.
The reason the organization mainly has images only of Mo, Braun said, is because of Xuan’s poor health.
“Our team is focused on relieving his pain and making sure he gets all the care and medication he needs to hopefully improve with some more time to recover.
“Mo is doing really well and adjusting nicely at Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary. She enjoys playing with her hammock and the enrichment the caretakers provide for her. She also still receives some medication but is overall developing well,” Braun said.
(Edited by Judith Isacoff and Fern Siegel)
