Bear business

RECENT findings of a regional TRAFFIC (ajoint programme of the World WildlifeFund for Nature and the WorldConservation Union) has expressedconcern that trade in bear organs maycontinue to place pressure on thedeclining wild bear population, especially in Asia. East Asia is the centre for the world's demand for bear gall bladders and bile, which are used in traditional medicines for curing liver cancer, haemorrhoids and conjunctivitis.

The demand for bear gall bladdersand bile as medicine, merits concern inrelation to Asia's bear species. Thespecies which might face extinction arethe Asiatic black bear and the brownbear populations of Bhutan, China andMongolia; the sun bear and the slothbear. Moreover, the increasing demandfor bile is having its impact on non-Asian .species like the spectacled bear,American bear and polar bear. Further, the price of bear bile was significantly higher than it was in a 1991 TRAFFIC study in the region which found the trade to be pervasive.

In August 1996, TRAFFIC east Asiaconducted a follow-up survey in China,Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwanand found that the demand in Asia forbear gall bladders and bile remainedhigh. At the same time, the situationdiffered from country to country, owingto several factors. In China, bear farming is fairly common whereas in HongKong, the activity is restricted; there is atenacity of demand in South Korea, anda moratorium on trade in Taiwan.

A recent issue of TRAFFIC Bulletin(Vol 16, No 3), Cambridge, UK, statesthat for centuries, bear parts like fat,brain, spinal cord, paws, bide, claws andmeat have been used in TraditionalChinese Medicine (TCM). However, thebile stored in the gall bladder of bears isthe only bear product commonly foundin China's range of medical productstoday. Significantly, a particular bileacid found in bear bile (ursodeoxycholicacid, or UDSA) has both synthesised andmedically proven to be effective in treating numerous human illness, including gallstones, hepatitis and cirrhosis.

It has been reported that approximately 10,000 bears were kept inChinese farms for bile extraction. Mostof them - the Asiatic black bears andthe brown bears - were captured fromthe wild. Bile consumption in China hasrisen from 500 kg per year in 1990 toabout 4,000 kg in 1996. China hasencouraged bear farming as a means oftaking commercial pressure off thecountry's wild bear population. Bilefrom the gall bladders is drainedthrough surgically- implanted devicesand sold legally in China's domestic market. Commercially-packaged bear bile is on sale in some of China'sinternational airports where it is clearlymarked as bear bile and offered openlyfor sale in airport shops.

In Hong Kong, while bear gall bladders are still offered for sale illegally, the activity is on the decrease since agovernment registration system licensesand tags only those bear gall bladdersthat are proven to be of legal origin.

In South Korea, the people haveremained dedicated consumers of bear.-gall bladders as a medicine and healthtonic, Farmed bear bile from China isopenly available for sale in Seoul. ABangkok-based Korean tourist guidehas estimated that South Koreantourists visiting Thailand (at least 10 percent of the 360,000 South Koreans whoannually visit Thailand), consumed bearmeat or bear products during their visit.The tourists reportedly pay from us$7,500 to us $9,000 for live bears, whichare killed by drowning. The meat andpaws are cooked and consumed at ban-quets. According to the guide, illegalhunting trips are also arranged forSouth Korean tourists near the bordersof Myanmar and China.

In Taiwan, the development of aregistration system has been complicated by the local TCM community'sexperience with Taiwan's rhino registration scheme. Initially, rhino horn registration was to have been followed by aperiod during which owners could selloff registered stocks. However, international pressure resulted in a completeban on the use or sale of rhino hornpowder. TCM practitioners worry that asimilar situation may develop with beargall bladders.