(2 Dec 2000) Mandarin/Eng/Nat
XFA
In China, the existence of black bear-farming is a practice long ignored by the general public.

But, the suffering of thousand of Chinese bears imprisoned in tiny cages with tubes in their stomachs to harvest their bile is about to come to an end.

After an historic agreement signed between the Chinese government and Animal Asia Foundation, bear farming is about to be banned.

In Sichuan province, a rescue center set up by the Foundation is welcoming the first free bears.

A taste of freedom at last... after several decades spent behind bars, it was Andrew's first steps onto green grass.

Like many Chinese black bears, Andrew was caught as a cub after his mother was killed.

Since then, he has spent his life cramped in a rusty cage along with thousands of other captive bears, with tubes sticking out of their bellies to harvest their bile from their gallbladders.

Bear bile, a substance that can fetch 200 dollars per 100 milliliters and used for centuries in traditional oriental medicine, is used to treat fever, liver illnesses and sore eyes.

About 7, 000 bears are still kept in around 250 bear farms across China.

Stretching out under the curious eyes of Chinese children, Andrew is the first resident of a pioneering Bear Rescue Center, created in Sichuan province, a few kilometers out of Chengdu in southwestern China.

It's a place made possible after an unprecedented agreement was signed last July between the Chinese wildlife authorities and Animals Asia Foundation aiming to ban the inhumane practice of bear farming over the next 15 years.

After a seven year battle, the Chinese authorities have agreed to release 500 Asiatic black bears from their farms.

For Andrew and many other bears, the last stage before semi-freedom starts here in the back of a truck, bringing them from the farms where some have been held for around 20 years of their lives.

Traumatised by a life in confinement, where they could hardly stand or turn around, the ill-kept animals show neurotic and disturbing behaviour such as continuous rocking.

Most bears have wounds from banging their heads against the cages and broken teeth from biting the bars from frustration and despair.

According to the centre's veterinarian, some bears might never recover from the trauma.

Once they are unloaded, the bears' state of general health is assess by a qualified veterinarian from the Animal Asia Foundation.

Most of them show signs of infections around the metallic catheter inserted into their bodies directly to the gallbladder.

It's through this tube that bear farmers would insert a needle to extract about 50 milliliters of bile.

For their first night in the center, the bears are housed in a vast room where they are given a first sign of gentleness after years in terrible captivity.

The bears are given fresh leaves, the first gesture to try to release their mental stress.

Founder of Animal Asia Foundation, 42-year-old Jill Robinson exposed the inhumane bear farming practice for the first time in 1998 and the world gasped in abhorrence.

Dedicated to animal welfare, she is the one who fought and won the battle to put an end to bear farming.

For her, the time has come to put an end to the bears' suffering.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The very fact is, the very fundamental point is that bear bile can be replaced by herbs, by synthetics which are out there in abundance so there is no more any need, no longer any need to keep beautiful animals like this captive for some twenty years of their lives."



















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