Animals Asia
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“It was a warm summers day in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai. The bear farmer and his wife briefly greeted the curious Westerner who had joined the group of tourists from Taiwan and Japan, before getting on with the business to hand and extolling the virtues of bear bile to an appreciative - and obviously wealthy - audience.
I walked away from the group and found some stone stairs leading down into a basement and, as the shadows gave way to a clearer image, a shocking scene unfolded...
Filling the room was cage after cage of crushed and frightened Moon Bears, who followed every step I made with fearful, wary eyes. As I walked closer, the curious “popping” vocalization they were making grew louder - and, so it was, that the first lesson I learned from this intelligent, endangered species was one of fear. To these pitiful bears, the presence of a human meant one thing;- the painful “milking” of their bile, which would be sold to customers upstairs who were completely unaware that a bear bile factory was operating directly beneath their feet.
This haunting vocalization was just the start of the bears’ horror story. Gaping infected holes in their abdomens bubbled thick with blood and pus and, central to them all, was the presence of a rusting metal catheter. Scars some three feet in length ran along their bodies, whilst claws and teeth had been deliberately hacked away to make these living “bile machines” safer to handle.
Stepping back in horror at this medieval scene, I felt something gently touch my shoulder and spun around, coming face to face with a female bear who had stretched out her paw through the bars of the cage. Although in retrospect a very stupid move, my first reaction was to take her paw in my hand, and as I did she squeezed my fingers rhythmically in return. As our eyes connected, never before had a message been so clear - and so began a journey for people and bears." - Jill Robinson
Hence Animals Asia was a born, a Hong Kong-based government-registered animal welfare charity founded by Jill Robinson in 1998. I caught up with Alice Ng, the organization's U.S. Director, in between rescue trips to China.
Bear farming exposed that the process of taking bile from bears is a cruel process. At the time (1993) Jill discovered the farms, approximately 10,000 Moon bears were on farms in China. Today, whilst the number is reducing, there are nearly 7,000 bears in conditions like the description above. Animals Asia has made it their purpose to not only expose this unbelievable and shameful practice but to determine the reason behind it.
Planet Green: Why were you founded? What is the problem that you are addressing?
Alice Ng: In countries across Asia, thousands of Asiatic black bears live a life of torture on bear farms, so that their bile can be extracted and used in traditional medicine to cure ailments ranging from headaches to liver complaints. Affectionately known as moon bears, these animals are confined in agonizingly tiny "crush" cages for up to 25 years of their lives, all of which cause terrible physical and mental suffering.
Animals Asia Foundation was founded by Jill Robinson, who's chance visit to a bear farm in 1993 changed the course of her life. By 1998, she founded Animals Asia and in the year 2000, after 7 years of negotiations with the Chinese government, signed a landmark agreement to rescue at least 500 bears from bear farms, and to work together towards the end of bear farming altogether.
PG: Can you explain the process of working with the Chinese Government and founders?
AN: Working alongside Jill Robinson has been amazing. I have been around enough non-profits where the it's easy for the mission of an organization to become lost or jaded, but Jill has been working steadfast against bear farming since 1993. Because Animals Asia was the first animal welfare organization to sign such an agreement with the government, and because we find win-win situations for both the bears and the government, we have a very unique relationship with the government, and in many cases, become a trusted source of expertise.
PG: What drew your founder, and you personally, to address this issue?
AN: I think if anyone ever steps into a bear farm, they would understand the great need to work against this horrible industry. Bears are kept in tiny cages, and "milked" on a daily basis through a gaping hole in the abdomen for a substance that can easily be replaced by herbs and synthetics. On our most recent rescue, Oliver, through the farmer's own admission, was kept in a cage for 30 years. Thirty years is towards the end of a captive bear's life span, so we are talking about this beautiful bear being caged for his entire life. And that is what we're fighting against - the level of torture and unnecessary suffering is beyond anything I have ever witnessed before.
I am Chinese American, a child of parents who have immigrated to the US during the 50's after enduring the Cultural Revolution. I grew up in a very traditional household and have a deep understanding of the cultural issues Jill faces when tackling such an age old custom of traditional medicine. I have grown to respect Jill for how she's learned to work within China, working around cultural barriers, learning how to appropriately "give face" where necessary, and deciding when to push back on behalf of the animals. Watching Jill's expert movement around this very delicate balance gives me faith that when bear farming will come to an end, it will be Jill Robinson who achieves it.
PG: What are your stats? How many bears have you saved?
AN: To date, we have saved 276 bears in China, closed 43 farms, and now 20 out of 32 provinces have pledged to are now bear farm free.
PG: Can you speak to any change in the tide in China to using the parts of bears in their medicine?
NG: There is certainly a change occurring in people's minds across China. Our "Healing without Harm" initiative works directly with the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) community where TCM practitioners agree that bear bile is not a necessary component in treating patients. Earlier this year, 33 medicine shops in the Chengdu, China came out and burned their entire stock of bear bile products, pledging never to sell these products again. http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?m=02&y=10&entry=entry100209-223710
I think, with all things, change is slow. However, people are starting to understand where the bile actually comes from, and are making conscious choices not to buy them.
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