Mama Bear Kills Itself After Killing Cub.

**kellyhound** · #11 ● 08-16-2011, 03:43 PM

Traditional Chinese Medicine uses bile (or straight up gall bladders) to treat a whole range of ailments which include (but are not limited to) epilepsy, muscle pain, bruises, sore throats, hair loss and hemorrhoids. Talk about your all purpose cure-all! According to the report, you may also find bear bile in shampoo and …wine.

Now, while we certainly think that Traditional Chinese Medicine has its place, none of these uses of bear bile as a cure are backed up by science – though it should be noted that one component of bil (ursodeoxycholic acid) is used in gastric bypass surgery and to treat liver disease. In most commercial pharmaceuticals, the source for this component is cows.

TRAFFIC found bear bile being sold for traditional medicinal uses in twelve countries that included China, Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar) and Vietnam. Typically, the bile originated in China, Japan, Russia and Laos.

The process of extracting the bile is, well, cruel. Some bears used for this process are raised for the purpose in captivity. Others are captured from the wild. The bears are then kept in tiny cages where they are unable to stand or move and their bile is drained up to three times a day via a catheter or syringe inserted into the gall bladder. Some bears remain in this condition for up to a decade, and others are killed and their gall bladders removed for sale.

sassieroses · #12 ● 08-16-2011, 04:03 PM

Disgusting!! I hope the workers and people responsible for this torture get the same thing done to them!!! People say animals have no feelings and teeny brains incapabable of human emotion and actions. To this I say, Oh really?!?! Wouldn't YOU do the same if you were in this bear's situation? I think it is things like this that should serve as a wake up call. Man is NOT God and those people treating HIS creatures in such ways are due to be punished!!!