Fw: ANIMALS ASIA PRESS RELEASE: 30-08-04

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends of Animals Asia,

 

Some of you may have noticed an article in the SCMP regarding a bear farming

workshop hosted by Jill Robinson and Professor Wang Song in Beijing last

week - here is the full story.

 

Best wishes,

Annie

Annie Mather

Executive Director, Head of Media

Animals Asia Foundation

 

 

CONTROVERSIAL DEBATE AT FIRST EVER BEAR FARM WORKSHOP IN BEIJING

 

The first workshop of its kind focusing on the problems and concerns

associated with bear farming in China, was held in Beijing last week on

Wednesday 25th August. Invited by the 19th International Zoology Conference

(ICZ) and hosted by the Animals Asia Foundation and Professor Wang Sung from

the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Workshop saw experts from China and

around the world debating the practice, direction and ethics surrounding the

controversial issue of keeping endangered bears captive, in order to " milk "

them for their bile which is used in Traditional .

 

In the introduction, Workshop Co-Chair Jill Robinson MBE, Founder of Animals

Asia, outlined the deplorable conditions which bears are forced to endure

for anything up to twenty years of their lives during captivity on bile

extraction farms across China. Her presentation introduced Animals Asia's

" China Bear Rescue " , which has liberated nearly 140 bears from farms which

have been completely closed down. The Rescue follows an historic Agreement

reached in July 2000 between Animals Asia, the China Wildlife Conservation

Association in Beijing and the Sichuan Forestry Department to free 500 bears

and work towards the final elimination of bear farming in China. (The

agreement is supported by the Central Government.)

 

Robinson introduced projects surrounding the Rescue which are providing

" win-win " solutions for bears and people alike: including the provision of

compensation for bear farmers; providing employment and salaries to the

local community; utilising local materials and encouraging local

craftsmanship in the construction of the China Bear Rescue Sanctuary;

joining with Traditional (TCM) practitioners in promoting

the cheap and abundant herbal alternatives to bile; and providing a focal

point for education within the local community and visitors from around the

world, with the development of an Education Village, where people can

appreciate bears for their own sake, rather than how they benefit humankind.

 

Elaborating on the bear farms themselves, Robinson showed evidence of how

the so-called " good " farms and " humane " methods of bile extraction are

anything but acceptable. Following Animals Asia's recent investigation of

" legal " bear farms in Yunnan Province in May, which was coordinated and

attended by Government officials, the pictures presented the grim reality of

the new " free-dripping " technique, showing bears who have permanently open

fistulas carved into their abdomens and gall bladders. The fistulas, or

holes, were seen dripping with bile or pus, or were central to large

hernias, where the original surgery to create the holes had caused

significant problems. Pictures of bears clearly suffering and dying were

shown to a shocked audience - which included bear farmers from Sichuan and

Heilongjiang.

 

Other speakers included Dr. Henry Lee, Chairman of the

Association of Suppliers in the UK, who outlined that the TCM industry has

less than 7 years to overhaul itself in order to be admitted as a

traditional medicine in Europe. Stressing that the criteria to register as

a traditional medicine includes the removal of all animal parts, Dr. Lee

emphasised how the benefits of this would allow freedom of movement of TCM

products across the European Union and the potential to pursue leadership in

an industry worth billions of US Dollars in the world herbal market.

 

Bruce Krider, CEO of Advanced Healthcare System in the USA, who is active in

Western hospital development across China, emphasised why, in his opinion,

the use of bear bile would never be approved for use within such facilities

in the country. He emphasised why the existence of synthetic UDCA (the

active ingredient in bear bile, which can be chemically synthesised) made

the use of bear bile irrelevant in the field of medicine - emphasising that

the added cost factor, the absence of true western type quality-control

measuring the potential dangers, the existence of herbal alternatives and

the animal welfare concerns as a result of the cruelty documented on bear

farms themselves, were reasons enough why the growing number of Western

hospitals in China would not use bear bile.

 

Mr. Krider made a surprising offer to the bear farmers present at the

Workshop by offering them investment in the development of Western

Hospitals - including a project in Beijing which would be realising an

annual profit in the region of US$60 million - if they would liquidate

their farms and end the suffering of the bears. His offer was declined by

Dr. Chen San, a bear farm owner from Sichuan Province who stated that Mr.

Krider should not develop Western hospitals, but should invest in bear farms

instead.

 

Dr. Chen San said that the welfare in legal bear farms had been improved

over the past few years. His words were echoed by Dr. Kong Ling-lu, a

Senior Veterinary Surgeon of the Sichuan Medical Group who said that " the

backward technique of bile extraction had been improved by a 'self-tissue

fistula' technique, where the previous diseases of bears had been prevented

and treated and that the crude management of the past had been replaced by

standard and scientific management, where bears happily live in a good

environment. "

 

Responding to this, Dr. Gail Cochrane, Veterinary Director of Animals Asia,

who has performed nearly 150 corrective surgeries on bile farm bears -

including the repair of 80 " free-dripping " victims - stressed that it was

impossible to maintain " sterile " conditions on bear farms and that the

impacts of the fistula extraction were clearly leading to significant health

problems and a reduced lifespan of bears on farms. Dr. Cochrane advised that

bacteria would be introduced into the gall bladder through the fistula hole,

from the skin, hair and extraction catheter, - together with the action of

the bear simply lying down on the floor. She added that when collecting

bile, the extraction catheter is frequently " stabbed " through the fistula to

break down any granulating tissue blocking the hole, which causes damage to

the gall-bladder lining.

 

In addition, post surgical breakdown and leakage as a result of poor skills

and techniques used on the bear farms can lead to serious problems for the

bears. Any holes developing in the gall-bladder wall or the junction where

it is attached to the abdominal wall will allow bile to leak into the bear's

abdominal cavity. Peritonitis then develops and the bear will die. Dr.

Cochrane stresses that she has received bears from the farms who were indeed

dying of peritonitis.

 

Professor Liu Zhengcai, National Director of TCM Academic Inheritors in

Chengdu, outlined the support from the Traditional

community towards using alternatives to bear bile. He stated that whilst

bear bile was first recorded 3000 years ago, its usage was small and the

effects were limited. In emphasising the principles of

which advocates the harmonious relationship between humans and nature,

Professor Liu stated that animals were part of nature and needed protection:

" We members of the Traditional community are working for

the benefit of people's health and it is our responsibility, as Doctors, to

protect wild animals in refusing to use wild animal parts such as bear bile.

Only by doing this, can we protect ourselves. "

 

Following the Workshop, in a meeting between Animals Asia Directors and the

Government China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA), Mr. Chen Run

Shen, Secretary General of the CWCA stated that his Department would

continue working with Animals Asia in closing down bear farms, adding that

the Chinese Government's long term goal of eliminating bear farming had not

changed.

 

Full details about the work of Animals Asia Foundation are available on its

brand new website: www.animalsasia.org

 

Ends....................