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Happy retirement for bears cruelly abused in their youth
Source: Xinhua |
February 10, 2009, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FIVE black bears, used to harvest bile for medical use 13 years ago, have been living a healthy and peaceful life at a nursery in south China's Guangdong Province.
The Guangdong provincial forestry bureau rescued nine Asiatic black bears in 1996 from an illegal bear bile farm in Guangdong's Huizhou, where the animals had cuts made in their abdomens and catheters inserted to extract bile.
A bear nursery, funded by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, was set up in the suburbs of Panyu City, in Guangdong, for the animals, who had been in a critical medical condition.
Four died in the nursery but the other five, now about 18 years old, are expected to live for another three to five years, their natural life span, said Zhang, the nursery head.
They enjoy good care and an annual health checkup, including blood tests, teeth checks and CT examinations.
The nursery, which has a staff of five, has cost the IFAW more than 20 million yuan (US$2.9 million) over the past 13 years and the organization still spends 1 million yuan a year to maintain it.
Awareness
"The social significance of the nursery is far beyond what it costs," said Ge Rui, IFAW's Asia regional director. "It not only provides a shelter for the injured bears, but also serves as a lesson to raise the public awareness of protecting animals."
According to surveys conducted by the IFAW, the majority of the respondents opposed getting bear bile using cruel methods.
Some traditional medical practitioners were also working to find substitutes for bear bile.
"More people have better understanding of the fact that consuming wildlife is a threat to biological diversity and will ultimately devastate the planet," He Yong, a staff member with the IFAW Beijing branch, said.
The black bears are under state protection as an endangered species.
Their bile is believed to combat fever, protect the liver and improve eyesight, and it has been used in Chinese traditional medicine for more than 1,000 years.
The practice of extracting bile from bears still alive began in the 1980s.
The Guangdong provincial forestry bureau rescued nine Asiatic black bears in 1996 from an illegal bear bile farm in Guangdong's Huizhou, where the animals had cuts made in their abdomens and catheters inserted to extract bile.
A bear nursery, funded by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, was set up in the suburbs of Panyu City, in Guangdong, for the animals, who had been in a critical medical condition.
Four died in the nursery but the other five, now about 18 years old, are expected to live for another three to five years, their natural life span, said Zhang, the nursery head.
They enjoy good care and an annual health checkup, including blood tests, teeth checks and CT examinations.
The nursery, which has a staff of five, has cost the IFAW more than 20 million yuan (US$2.9 million) over the past 13 years and the organization still spends 1 million yuan a year to maintain it.
Awareness
"The social significance of the nursery is far beyond what it costs," said Ge Rui, IFAW's Asia regional director. "It not only provides a shelter for the injured bears, but also serves as a lesson to raise the public awareness of protecting animals."
According to surveys conducted by the IFAW, the majority of the respondents opposed getting bear bile using cruel methods.
Some traditional medical practitioners were also working to find substitutes for bear bile.
"More people have better understanding of the fact that consuming wildlife is a threat to biological diversity and will ultimately devastate the planet," He Yong, a staff member with the IFAW Beijing branch, said.
The black bears are under state protection as an endangered species.
Their bile is believed to combat fever, protect the liver and improve eyesight, and it has been used in Chinese traditional medicine for more than 1,000 years.
The practice of extracting bile from bears still alive began in the 1980s.
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