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Use of bear bile in COVID-19 treatment should be stopped

  • Publication Date | April 20, 2020
  • Document Type | Letter to the Editor
  • Programmes | Forests & Biodiversity
  • Issues | Animal Welfare, Wildlife
  • Tags | Bear, Bile, Covid-19, Medicines
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Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is gravely concerned to learn that the National Health Commission of China has recommended the use of bear bile in the treatment of severe and critical cases of COVID-19.  

This move is a blow to conservationists worldwide, as on Feb 24th this year, China declared an immediate and comprehensive ban on the trade in wildlife and the sale of wild animals for food, citing the risk of diseases spreading from animals to humans, following the emergence of the novel coronavirus which has wreaked havoc across the world.

The Chinese National Health Commission, in recommending treatments for the coronavirus that includes bear bile, highlights a contradictory approach to wildlife viz. shutting down the live trade in animals for food on the one hand while promoting the trade and use of animal parts on the other.

Learning from the lessons of COVID-19, it is more crucial than ever to end the use of wildlife parts in medicine, particularly from species that are endangered and threatened such as bears.

It is indeed hugely irresponsible to continue promoting medicines containing wildlife parts in an era of unprecedented biodiversity loss, including in illegal and unsustainable trade, especially of endangered and threatened species. 

Recent surveys conducted in China showed the vast majority of respondents were opposed to the use of wildlife in medicine. The continued use of wildlife in traditional medicine will only fuel the demand for threatened wildlife. 

The promotion of bear bile has the propensity to increase the amount used, affecting not only captive bears but also those in the wild, imperilling an already endangered species in Asia and across the world.  

The main target of the bear bile trade – the Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus) also known as the moon bear – is today listed as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. Little is known about its total population, although as few as 25,000 may survive in the wild and it has certainly vanished from much of its former range and is in decline where it persists. The trade has also targeted the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) – also vulnerable – and various subspecies of brown bear.

Over-hunting, combined with massive habitat loss, has led to the complete destruction of some populations and declines in others.

Even though bear bile is to be sourced from bear farms in China, this will not relieve pressure on wild bear population.  Reasons are that breeding of bears is costly, while it costs less and easier to capture bears from the wild to repopulate farms with high turnover.   Further, there are consumers who would prefer bear bile from wild animals, either viewing this as being more authentic or due to concerns about the conditions in bear farms. 

Now that Beijing has approved the use of bear bile in the treatment of COVID-19, we fear a rise in incidents of poaching.  Recent studies conducted have showed that poachers were targeting sun bears, sought after by Chinese medicine practitioners, in Sabah and Sarawak.  

Further, the Chinese recommendation and practice are likely to encourage traditional medicine practitioners outside China to follow suit in promoting bear bile as a cure for COVID-19.  Desperate consumers may easily be swayed. 

A further major concern is the cruelty and torture inside bear farms and bile facilities, that are akin to houses of horror. There are about 20,000 bears being held in tiny cages under cruel conditions across China to cater to the demand from traditional medicine suppliers.

Animal welfare groups report that conditions are indeed horrifying where thousands of moon bears lie in constant pain and anguish in cages no bigger than coffins.  They have to endure crude and brutal methods in the extraction of bile from rusting catheters, barbaric full-metal jackets with neck spikes, medicinal pumps and open, infected holes drilled into their bellies. Animal rights activists contend that such conditions cause massive psychological harm to the bears.   

Some bears are put into cages as cubs and never released.  Most farmed bears are starved, dehydrated and suffer from multiple diseases and malignant tumours that ultimately kill them.  If bears live long enough – and life-spans are short here – they can be bile milked for decades.  After 10-20 years when bears stop producing enough bile, they are then killed and their body parts sold.    

As the world is crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the public health and environmental risks of wildlife trade and use are rightly receiving unprecedented attention.   There could be no better time to end the use of wildlife parts, especially of threatened and endangered species in medicine.

In doing so, China could show the world its real commitment to becoming a genuine leader in conservation.   

Meenakshi Raman

President

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Testimonials

Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah satu badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang telah sekian lama berjuang mempertahan kelestarian alam. Ia juga mendidik masyarakat tentang pentingnya kebersamaan dalam pemikiran dan tindakan agar alam ini dapat kita wariskan kepada generasi hadapan dalam keadaan yang elok dan terpelihara. Dalam pada itu juga SAM giat membantu golongan nelayan pantai dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka sehinggalah tertubuhnya Persatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING). Nelayan pantai sepenuh masa ini dididik oleh SAM sehingga mereka mampu memainkan peranan sebagai pemimpin nelayan yang meneruskan kesinambungan memperjuangkan hak-hak nelayan pantai lainnya. Sebagai contoh SAM telah berjaya menyedarkan masyarakat nelayan keperluan menjaga hutan paya bakau untuk kebaikan hasil tangkapan nelayan itu sendiri.
Jamaluddin Mohamad Bualik
Jamaluddin Mohamad BualikPersatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Jaringan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING)
During the 1980s, I used to read about the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) in the news. After retirement, some time in 2001, while lazing around, I read news about the construction of a carbon in leach plant using sodium cyanide to extract gold in Bukit Koman. My friends and I visited CAP and we were introduced to SAM and her legal team. We discussed the details of filing a case against the gold mining company and the department of environment with Ms Meenakshi Raman and her legal team. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between lawyers from SAM and many of us from Bukit Koman. We had many ups and downs in our struggle to shut down the gold mine that was causing a nuisance in our village. But, as a community we never gave up because SAM had our backs.
Hue Fui How
Hue Fui HowSecretary, Bukit Koman Ban Cyanide in Goldmining Action Committee (BCAC)
Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah sebuah NGO yang memperjuangkan nasib masyarakat luar bandar khasnya. SAM menerima aduan-aduan masyarakat dan menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi. SAM telah mewujudkan ramai aktivis-aktivis sosial dan alam sekitar. Pada era 1980 dan 90an SAM sangat dihormati oleh masyarakat dan agensi kerajaan. Apabila media sosial menguasai maklumat maka SAM pun terkesan dan masalah masyarakat terus disalurkan dengan pelbagai cara. SAM perlu mewujudkan aktivis-aktivis pelapis yang muda untuk terus membantu masyarakat. SAM juga perlu membuat perubahan supaya banyak turun kelapangan dan jangan mengharapkan laporan media sahaja. Tingkatkan prestasi sebagaimana pada zaman kegemilangan SAM di era 80-90an.
Che Ani Mt Zain
Che Ani Mt Zain
SAM taught me the importance of social activism and the role it plays in upholding the rights of people and the protection of the environment. In my experience, SAM has never hesitated to speak up in defence of people and their environment, and has gone the extra mile to champion their rights, by helping communities take their battles to the higher ups and even to the courts.
Jessica Binwani
Jessica BinwaniPublic/Private Interest Lawyer
Semenjak kami kenal SAM, banyak pengalaman dan pengetahuan yg kami dapat. Kami telah belajar cara membuat baja asli daripada SAM. Semenjak itu, bermulalah minat kami dalam aktiviti pertanian. Dengan memperolehi kemahiran dalam membuat baja asli dan penanaman lestari, kami juga telah dapat menambahkan pendapatan sampingan kami. Ini lebih baik daripada tanah kami terbiar dan tidak diusahakan. Terima kasih SAM kerana sudi memberi bantuan dan tunjuk ajar kepada Persatuan kami.
Chedo Anak Nyuwen
Chedo Anak NyuwenPersatuan Penduduk Sg Buri, Bakong, Marudi
My journey with SAM started when her community organisers took me to the meet the paddy farmers of Kedah, connecting my growing interest in environmental law with our people who struggle to work the land in the face of pollution, replacement of traditional seeds with commercial hybrids and their accompanying chemical package of fertilisers and weedicides. I then had the honour to work with SAM in the struggle for the rights of the native communities of Sarawak, in defence of their forests from massive logging and destructive mega-projects. In every issue that SAM takes up, she combines rigorous research with the realities and voices of the communities to advocate for policies and laws that care for people and nature. From the courts to the elected legislators to policy makers and implementers and to the United Nations, SAM walks side by side with the communities in Malaysia. How can I not be inspired by the vision and passion of the generations of women and men who coalesce to form SAM?
Chee Yoke Ling
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Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Headquarters)
No. 1, Jalan Joki, 11400 Penang,
Malaysia
Tel: +604 827 6930
Fax: +604 827 6932

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Marudi Office)
129A, First Floor,
Jalan Tuanku Taha,
P.O.Box 216,
98058 Marudi, Baram, Sarawak,
Malaysia
Tel & Fax: +6085 758 973

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