CHINA DEFIES EUROPEAN UNION RESOLUTION ON BEAR BILE FARMING

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http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/01/13/2003288776

Wildlife official defends Chinese bear bile farms in face of European protests

 

 

AP , BEIJING

Friday, Jan 13, 2006,Page 5

" They stress that this practice of bear farming really denigrates the

principles of Chinese medicine because it's so cruel. "

 

Jill Robinson of Animals Asia Foundation

 

A senior wildlife official yesterday defended China's raising of bears

on farms to make bile for traditional medicine, rejecting a European

appeal to shut down the industry.

 

A campaign launched last year has ended many of the inhumane practices

cited by environmentalists, while bile is still in high demand for

medicine, said Wang Wei (¤ý°¶) deputy director-general of China's

Department of Wildlife Conservation.

 

Members of the European Parliament issued a joint statement this week

calling on China to phase out bear farms. Traditional Chinese doctors

use the bitter, green bile drained from bear gallbladders to treat

eye, liver and other ailments.

 

" We have introduced painless practices for extracting bear bile, " Wang

said at a news conference.

 

" Until we can find a good substitute for bear bile, we cannot accept

the EU resolution that urges the elimination of bear farming, " he

said.

 

The founder of a group that runs a sanctuary in China for bears

rescued from farms rejected Wang's claim that there is no alternative

for bile.

 

" It's nonsense. Bear bile can easily and cheaply be replaced by herbal

or synthetic materials, " said Jill Robinson of the Hong Kong-based

Animals Asia Foundation.

 

" This is the belief of many, many Chinese doctors who are working with

us, " Robinson said.

 

" They stress that this practice of bear farming really denigrates the

principles of Chinese medicine because it's so cruel, " she added.

 

China encouraged bear farming in the 1990s as a way to stop the

hunting of endangered bears. But injuries and illness suffered by

caged bears led to criticism by environmentalists.

 

According to Wang, China has closed most of its 480 bear farms but 68

that meet new standards will be allowed to continue operating. He said

those farms have a total of about 7,000 bears.

 

Most of the bears farmed for bile in China are Asiatic black bears,

which the government lists as an endangered species.

 

Environmentalists complain that farms hold bears in tiny cages and

that the animals suffer infection and injuries from metal tubes that

are surgically implanted to drain bile.

 

Wang said the state-approved farms still drain bile from bears, but he

said it is done using tubes made of the bears' own tissue in an

attempt to make the process painless. He said the authorized farms

have exercise yards for the bears and breeding areas.

 

Wang complained that some environmentalists were circulating what he

said were outdated pictures of bears in small cages and other

practices that Chinese regulators have stamped out.

 

" This distorts the facts, " he said.

 

Animals Asia opened its sanctuary in 2002 in a bamboo forest in the

southwestern province of Sichuan.

 

The sanctuary has received 198 bears, and every one has had to have

its damaged gallbladder removed, Robinson said.

 

" In 100 percent of cases, we have found pus, white blood cells, in the

bile. And we wonder, `What is that pus doing to the end consumer?' "

she said.

 

" So, far from healing people, it could be harming them, " she added.

 

Environmentalists say bear farming began in North Korea in the 1980s

and spread to China, Vietnam and South Korea.

 

Environmentalists say China's output of bear bile is up to twice its

consumption, suggesting that bear farms are supplying a thriving

foreign trade, though the government says it is not aware of any

exports.

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