Bear bile is used as an ingredient in Asian medicines. There are about 10,000 Moon Bears being kept in horrific conditions in Vietnam and China. These bears are cruelly caught from the wild in leg-hold traps and kept in 'crush' cages where they cannot stand up.
Their teeth and claws are removed and a metal catheter is inserted into their gall bladders causing excruciating pain and terrible wounds.
The bears are malnourished and suffer from hair loss, mass muscle loss, stunted growth and severe mental stress. Bears have been seen to moan, bang their heads against the cages and chew their paws. In one case a mother bear escaped, strangled her own cub and killed herself by running into a wall.
Bears in the wild can live to around 25 years, in captivity to around 35. These bears only live to about 5 years. After that the bile productivity reduces and they are eventually killed and sold off for meat, fur, paws and gall bladders.
For more impact please write to:
His Excellency, Mr. Tran Quang Hoan,Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK, Embassy of Vietnam, 12-14 Victoria Road, London, W8 5RD
e-mail - consular@vietnamembassy.org.uk
