For centuries, Traditional Chinese Medicine has claimed that certain animal products help treat and cure a number of common ailments. While there are many lauded benefits of Traditional Chinese Medicine, one obvious drawback is the use of ingredients of animal origin, often using endangered animal parts.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
For centuries the Traditional Chinese Medicine argued that some animal products helped treat and cure a number of common ailments. While there are many lauded benefits of Traditional Chinese Medicine, one obvious drawback is the use of ingredients of animal origin, often using parts of endangered animals, such as tigers, rhinos and antelopes.
Some of the animals used are killed by poachers, while others are bred in captivity in terrible conditions for their whole life. Here are 5 most common animal products used for their health benefits, behind which terrible violence and abuse lurk.
Index
Bear bile
More than 10.000 bears are kept on bile farms in China and another 2.000 are held in Vietnam. They are raised and confined in small cages, forced to suffer through painful and invasive procedures to extract their bile from the gallbladder. Bear bile is believed to help reduce inflammation, expel toxins, improve symptoms of conjunctivitis and hepatitis, and treat headaches.
READ: Moon Bears "milked" for bile in China (video)
Tiger bones
Almost every part of the tiger is considered sacred and capable of healing in traditional Chinese medicine. The bones of rigre, one of the most prized areas of the animal, are ground and used to treat arthritis and other common ailments, as well as impotence.
Although the use of tiger bones in traditional medicine has declined in recent years, the demand for tiger bones has never been higher. Having tiger bone wine is considered a status symbol. It is estimated that around 1.000 tigers have been killed in the past 10 years to meet the demands in Asia.
READ: Tiger Bone Wine: Felines raised on Chinese "farms" to produce aphrodisiac bottles
Rhino horn
It is believed to heal from fever, seizures and hallucinations. The rhino horn it is composed of keratin, one of the main components of our nails. Illegal wildlife trade is a major cause behind the decimation of all rhino populations worldwide.
Read: Ivory war: elephants and rhinos face extinction
Pangolin flakes
The pangolin is the busiest illegally trafficked animal in the world. Although pangolin is eaten as a delicacy, it is also used for its purported medicine. Pangolin is thought to improve kidney function, treat asthma, and improve the signs of psoriasis.
Read: Pangolins, here are the most illegally trafficked mammals in the world (VIDEO)
Antelope horns
Males of saiga tatarica, an antelope once widespread in Asia, have been killed for their horns, bringing it to the brink of disappearance. Now the antelope death toll in Central Asia has risen to around 120.000, nearly half of the world's population left, according to unofficial estimates. A few days ago, veterinarians and scientists studying the catastrophe have presented their findings so far for government officials in Kazakhstan, where animals are dying for other reasons as well.
Roberta Ragni
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