End Moon Bear Suffering

Just imagine many bears waiting to be slaughtered for their gall bladder, feet and meat, crowded into small and filthy cages being fed pigs food on a daily basis. In the West, activists protest against similar treatment of battery hens. Here we are talking about a protected species, and one of the world's most magnificent animals. Nothing is being done by authorities to stop the trade in Korea.

The cruellest thing for this animal - remember this is the animal meant to be the mother of the Korean nation - is that they cannot live in the wild. Bears hibernate in their natural environment and the need to do this is indelibly implanted into their DNA. But bears caged at farms cannot hibernate during Korea's bitterly cold winters. This drives them insane, and activists have seen bears self-harming themselves against hard objects in despair.

There are no regulations providing for any specific method of slaughter, and there is a widespread belief that the bears are killed inhumanely. All of these conditions are against CITES agreement.

These bears are killed for oriental medicine, especially for their gall bladder but also for their meat and feet. Customers regularly visit the farms to select their own bear for slaughter.
MoonBears.org - A global coalition campaigning to save Korea's Moon Bears.

A bear gall bladder sells for up to $20,000 in Korea. Mr. Kim argues that deregulation will allow farmers to compete with imported bladders from China. China, Russia and North Korea have huge bear farming industries.

There are legal processes set out for the establishment of bear farms and the sale of bear products. However these are clearly being ignored and not enforced. Advertisements for internet sales for bears and bear breeding are easily found in Korean internet shopping malls, For example www.petmart.org; www.sajapet.com ; www.doumy114.com ; www.chunggaechun.co.kr .

Visits to 10 bear farms by in 2004 Green Korea confirmed hygiene standards and the condition of bears were both extremely poor. Most bears were in small dog cages - around 1 meter by 2 meters in size. There are frequently up to 10 bears in larger cages.

All bears were showing signs of abnormal behaviour. Some farms were located in the gardens of residential houses or temporary buildings. The "farmers" indicated that there were no inspections by authorities.

According to reports on oriental medicine there is over speculation about a bear's gall bladder being extra effective to cure human liver problems, it can also be replaced by around 54 alternative herbal formulas. For more information you should download the Detailed background on Asian bile trade and uses for bear bile, prepared by ACRES document.

Please Visit my other pages for more info on the bears & other animal & enviromental issues

http://my.care2.com/julesrs007
http://julesrs007saveanimals.blogspot.com/