Zoos and aquariums across Australasia have joined together to enlist one million supporters to encourage the Government of China to phase out the ‘farming’ of bears used to extract their bile to be used in traditional medicine.

Asian Black Bears –also known as Moon Bears – are mainly kept in bear farms in China. They are kept for their entire lives in small cages so that bile can be extracted from their gall bladders through a permanently open wound in the abdomen.

The active ingredient in bear bile can easily be synthesised in laboratories and traditional medicine practitioners agree that herbal treatments are as effective as bear bile. There is no need for bears to be ‘farmed’ for their bile.

For one year from July 2007, we aim to enlist one million supporters so that we can take a communiqué to the Chinese Government encouraging an end to bear bile farming.

Please sign the communique and show your support. Your details will not be used for any other purpose – only to establish through weight of numbers that people care about these bears and are concerned to see them find a new life in sanctuaries.  

For more information visit the ARAZPA website or the Animals Asia Foundation website.