There are eight bear species worldwide. Bears are highly intelligent animals. They all have a very strong sense of hearing and smell. It is said that bears can smell honey from a distance of 3.1 miles (5 km). The Asiatic Black Bear is found in Southern Asia (map).
It is a medium sized bear. Asiatic Black Bears are often called Moon Bears because of the V-shaped patch of cream or yellow colored fur on their chest.(photo) The shape looks like a moon. The ears of an Asiatic Black Bear look much larger than those of other bears. Female bears are smaller than males.


Most of these bears live in hilly areas with forests or towards the mountains. In summer, the Moon Bears prefer higher altitudes. As the cold of winter comes they move to lower elevations. Moon Bears are mainly awake at night, though many tend to be very active at dawn and dusk. They sleep in caves or in nests on tree branches. After their birth, the baby bears stay with their mother for up to three years. Moon Bears eat bee hives, fruits, nuts, insects, vegetables, and small animals like mice or birds. In the wild, Moon Bears can live up to 30 years. On bear farms, many die at less than half that age, between 10 to 12 years.


Throughout Asia thousands of Asiatic Black Bears are imprisoned in bear farms. In China, there are more than 6,928 bears kept in cages in order to get bile from their gall bladders. Bile is a liquid that the bear's liver produces, it helps the bear to digest fat in the diet. The bile from the Moon Bears is sometimes used to mix medicines from very old Chinese recipes, but many times it is used in products with no medicinal value e.g. shampoos, skin cream and soda. It is known that there are herbs and synthetic extracts to replace the bear bile.

Catheters are surgically implanted into the bear's gall bladder which is next to the bear's liver in his abdomen. Through these metal tubes, the bile is drained from the gall bladder up to twice a day. The procedure to put these tubes into the bear's body is very unhygienic and as a result the bears develop severe infections in the body and the skin which are very painful. Some of the bears die as a result. The bears surviving the surgery spend the rest of their lives suffering in the tiny cages. The bears are unable to move and stretch. They bite the bars of the cages because they are bored. This frequently breaks their teeth which gives them toothache. Some have head wounds form banging their heads against the bars. Moon bears on farms live in this terrible condition for up to 22 years in constant pain. The Moon Bears need immediate help to be rescued from the farms and to receive treatment.