As Bear Bile Farms Close, Captive Animals at Risk
Bear bile producers have spent nearly 90 percent less on food for their bears since the price of farmed bile began falling in 2010. Anecdotal reports of bears starving to death in Vietnamese bile farms supported their findings.
ANNIE ROTH: ‘The lives of nearly 1,000 captive bears have been put in jeopardy by the decline of Vietnam’s bile farming industry. A study led by the Australian animal welfare group Free The Bears found that bear bile farms across Vietnam are starving and killing their bears because keeping them alive has become too costly. Profits from bear bile have dropped amid decreasing demand for bile from captive bears and an oversupply, according to the researchers…
The study… found that Vietnamese bear bile producers have spent nearly 90 percent less on food for their bears since the price of farmed bile began falling in 2010. Anecdotal reports of bears starving to death in Vietnamese bile farms supported their findings. Free The Bears now fears that a mass die-off of Vietnam’s remaining captive bears is imminent…
Bile farms are notoriously inhumane — bears are typically brought in as cubs and kept in cages where they can barely move. Bile is extracted daily from the animals by means of a catheter, which can be extremely painful… Free The Bears, Animals Asia, and a handful of other organizations have rescue centers in and around Vietnam, most of which are at capacity’. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEO: