From 2026 in South Korea the cruel practice of extracting bile from Moon Bears, bred in real concentration camps, will be banned
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himThousands of Tibetan bears, also known as moon bears, are locked up in real concentration camps, where they are tortured to extract their bile, used in traditional Chinese medicine. Finally this terrifying nightmare is coming to an end, at least in South Korea. A couple of days ago the South Korean Ministry of the Environment signed a joint agreement with the Bear Farmers Association and other animal welfare associations to stop this cruelty. Unfortunately, the ban won't go into effect right away. But we will have to wait until January 2026: starting from this date the "bile farms" will be banned.
It is currently illegal to extract bile from bears in South Korea while they are alive. But it is possible to slaughter them to take out the gallbladder, from which the bile is extracted. Thanks to this agreement we put an end to a brutal practice (and a business), which went on undisturbed for decades.
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“This is the result that we, in collaboration with Green Korea United, are striving tirelessly for and for which we have been working for over 18 years: we are absolutely thrilled. - said Maya Pastakia, Global Campaign Manager of the World Animal Protection association - Captive bile bears are cruelly exploited and commodified. They live their lives in tiny, cramped cages, enduring immense mental and physical suffering, unable to climb trees, play and forage for food as they would in nature. The deal sends a clear and positive signal that the cruel practice of breeding bear bile is no longer acceptable in a modern country, especially as herbal alternatives are readily available. Bears are not medicine. They are sentient beings and belong to nature ”.
The horror inside the bile farms
The Tibetan bear was declared a protected and endangered species around the end of the 70s. Since then, numerous places of torture known as 'bile farms' have been created in various Asian countries: at first the bile was extracted from the killed animals, but then the breeders decided to subject them to daily withdrawals, through catheters. metals inserted into the gallbladder without anesthesia and in poor hygienic conditions. An excruciating torture. But not only. Animals are barely fed for their bodies to produce more bile, a situation that leads them to terrible suffering and develop various diseases. All this because the bear bile contains an active ingredient known as ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), used to lower fever, fight inflammation and improve liver health. In fact, the same benefits can be obtained with herbs or synthetic products.
Today, throughout South Korea, around 360 bears remain on farms, but up to the 2000s there were over 1400. For the Moon bears in this country, the nightmare is finally about to end, but in many other states, such as China, horror continues.
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Fonte: World Animal Protection
Read the news about the latest moon bear rescues here:
- Biggest Moon Bears Rescue: After years of torture on the 'bile farm' comes freedom
- Rescued 2 moon bears imprisoned for 17 years in the dark on a bile farm
