A Chinese pharmaceutical company that uses bile extracted from the gallbladders of black bears as the key ingredient in its products is to launch on the stock market as part of an expansion drive. The news has met with fierce public opposition and caused environmentalists once again to appeal against the cruelty of live bear-bile extraction.
“In online opinion polls on major websites, hundreds of thousands of citizens – 90% of all respondents – have registered their support for the elimination of bear farming,” wrote Chinese web portal Tencent, newspaper Southern Weekend and 62 animal protection organisations in an open letter sent on March 1.
The company at the centre of the controversy is Fujian Guizhen Tang Pharmaceutical Company – known simply as Guizhen Tang – the self-proclaimed largest bear farm in southern China. It has more than 400 black bears in captivity, capable of producing 100 baby bears each year.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Battery bears: the campaign to stop bear bile farming in China | chinadialogue
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