Bile bear

Bear bile is the bile of bears and is used in traditional Chinese medicine ( TCM ) for the treatment of eye and liver problems used.

Active substance

The active ingredient of bear bile is ursodeoxycholic acid ( UDCA ), which is produced synthetically, used in the Western evidence-based medicine to dissolve small gallstones, to treat a variety of liver diseases.

Production

Bear bile is produced mainly in China and other East and Southeast Asian countries by the " milking" of bears. The animals are kept on bear farms in small cages; a - usually without anesthesia - surgically implanted plastic or steel catheter in the bile is produced in the living animal. The bear farming was adopted in the 1980s by China from South Korea to curb the hunt for wild bears. A bear can give about two kilograms annually dried bear bile, the bile is bled two times daily. Overall, the bear farms produce about 7000 kg of bear bile annually.

Despite the prohibition of trade in bear products in the CITES Convention and the fact that the active ingredient ursodeoxycholic acid ( UDCA ) can be produced synthetically ( Western medicine has an annual 200 tons of synthetic UDCA a ), the increasing demand for TCM leads to a further increase in the number of bear farms. Compared to the World Animal Protection Society ( WSPA ) confirmed Chinese conservation officials that now about 9,000 bears are kept at 170 bear farms in China.

Use

In Traditional Chinese Medicine ( TCM) bear bile is used for the following, and also recommended by the state - official pharmacopoeia of China's bear bile:

  • " Eliminates heat in the liver "
  • " Provides relief for cramps and convulsive seizures "
  • " Improves the visual acuity "
  • " Away heat and toxic substances"

28 kinds of patented medicines containing bear bile in China. The dried gall bladders from slaughtered, the wild or dead, held on the farms bears are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine ( TCM).

In addition to TCM remedies bear bile is also, inter alia, offered in shampoos, face cream, neck candy or toothpaste.

Prices

The demand for bear bile is high and continues to rise. According to Animals Asia Foundation ( AAF ) will cost in China one kilograms of bear bile 350 euros, a whole gallbladder in South Korea 7,500 euros.

Finally, the demand for bear bile is also increasing by the TCM boom in Europe. Although the trade in bear products according to the CITES Convention is strictly prohibited and most Western TCM users reject Bear products, showed a study that up to 75 percent of TCM drugs in Western countries contain bear bile. In order to prevent the trade in bear products, a rapid test for the detection of Bear proteins has been developed.

Bear bile and animal welfare

The attitude of bears for the extraction of bear bile is condemned by Asian and western animal welfare organizations. The bears are generally kept in tiny cages where they loudly AAI is repeatedly punctured without any pain relief with the most primitive means the abdominal wall, so that the bile can flow directly. The method is non-sterile, the catheters are contaminated after a short time and lead to chronic, painful infection of the animals in the abdominal cavity, where they usually die after a few years.

In connection with the 2008 taking place in China Olympics, the Chinese government has been asked in a bipartisan statement by the European Parliament to end the cruel practice of bear bile farms.

Swell

  • Traditional Chinese Medicine
  • Animal Welfare
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