ASIATIC BLACK BEAR (Ursus thibetanus)

Other name:

French: Ours à collier, German: Kragenbärb, Spanish: Oso negro asiatico
Other names: Himalayan Black Bear, Moon Bear, Asian Black Bear

Subspecies :

  1. Baluchistan Bear

  2. Formosan Black Bear

  3. Himalayan Black Bear

  4. Indochinese Black Bear

  5. Japanese Black Bear

  6. Tibetan Black Bear

  7. Ussuri Black Bear

Distribution: Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Taiwan, Japan, SE Iran, Central and South Pakistan, Korean Peninsula, Russian Far East

Habitat: Occupied broad leaved and coniferous forest from sea level up to 4300m asl. In SEA, they can be found in the evergreen forest to deciduous forest.

Diet: Omnivorous; parts of plants (shoots, roots, leaves), fruits, mammalian ungulates, sometimes, crops.

General Behaviours: Active mostly diurnally through the year. Could hibernate in period of food unavailable in the winter.

Threats: Bear farming (for the bear bile)
Poaching for bile
Bear depredations
Sport hunting in some countries
Habitat destruction

Conservation Status: CITES Appendix I
Vulnerable (IUCN Red List, assessed in 2016)

Facts about bear bile farming

1. Bear bile does have medicinal uses

Bear bile has been used for thousands of years in traditional Asian medicine. It contains high levels of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) known to be useful for treating liver and gall bladder conditions. Sold in the form of powder, tonic or pills, bear bile is considered to be a 'cure' for a range of ailments from acne, hangovers, colds, sore-throats, haemorrhoids, conjunctivitis and even cancer. It’s also used in ordinary household products and cosmetics like shampoo and toothpaste. It’s even used in wine, and 'bile teas'.

2. Extracting bile from bears is as cruel and painful as you would imagine

The extraction of bear bile from live bears causes unimaginable physical and psychological suffering and long-term health problems.

While extraction methods vary, all bears live in tiny cages for the duration of their time on bile farms. Bears grow up in these tiny cages to the point where their bodies have contorted to fit the bars. Most have missing and damaged teeth from trying to gnaw their way out. Crush cages and full metal jackets are now illegal in China, but are still likely to be used on poorer farms.

Some farms in China have breeding programs, but many bears are poached from the wild as cubs. They are stolen from their mothers and likely witness her being killed by the poachers as she tries to protect them. Most of these cubs are never released and can suffer up to 30 years of continuous pain by bile extraction.

Most farmed bears are starved and dehydrated as this can encourage bile production. Because of the unnatural and unhygienic conditions they are forced to live in, many also suffer from multiple diseases and malignant tumours that ultimately kill them.

Resources from https://www.animalsasia.org/intl/end-bear-bile-farming-2017.html