Guest guest Posted October 29, 2002 Report Share Posted October 29, 2002 ***************************Advertisement*************************** eCentral - Your Entertainment Guide http://www.star-ecentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from thestar.com.my URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2002/10/28/nation/cmbeary & sec=nation ________________________ Monday, October 28, 2002 Group: Stop illegal bear parts trade By SUSAN TAM PETALING JAYA: An international non-governmental organisation for the protection of wildlife has appealed to the government to clamp down on the illegal trade in bear parts, particularly bile powder and gall bladders, for medicinal purposes. World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) LibeartyProject officer Philip Wilson said based on a survey conducted in five major cities in Malaysia, it was discovered that 78% of traditional Chinese medicine shops were selling bear bile in the form of powder, flakes or crystals and gall bladders. “Out of the 73 shops surveyed in Johor Baru, Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Penang, we found 57 shops selling bear parts which are believed to be used for treatment of hepatitis, liver complications and gallstones. Bear bile is also found in wine and shampoos,” he said in an interview. Wilson said most of the products were from China. Exporting the animal parts is illegal under the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which Malaysia is a signatory. He said the survey was done as part of a three-year investigation of hundreds of shops and companies in countries which include Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, the United States and Canada. “From our findings, it can be seen that the United States was the worst offender, with 90.6% of shops surveyed selling bear products. Malaysia stands at 78%, only slightly worse than Japan at 76.6% and for Singapore, 73.5% of the shops surveyed sold these items,” he said. He said the society had already submitted the completed report called “The Bear Bile Business” to the Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan), the Malaysian CITES authority and the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry and was awaiting their reply. “Bear farming is usually conducted in China.Although the number is small, some bears in these farms are also found to be endangered species such as the Asiatic black bear,” he said, adding that bear bile could fetch between US$15 (RM57) and US$100 (RM380) per gram. He said WSPA was also concerned with the inhumane treatment of bears in these farms in China, where the animals were “milked” for their bile from open wounds, as it was believed to be more potent. “This process causes severe distress with some bears resorting to chewing their paws to cope with the pain,” he said. Wilson said WSPA was concerned with conservation of the wild bear population as more of the animals were being hunted for their bile as it was believed to be more potent than the bile of farm bears. He said there were more than 50 herbal alternatives that could be used to replace the use of bear bile to treat the same illnesses, which could be made available to traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and the general public. He added that the acid found in bear bile could be manufactured in laboratories, which reduced the need for farm bears and the practice of harvesting their bile. <p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2002 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Star Publications is prohibited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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