Bear Bile and Wine

The Vietnamese Government has listed the Malayan Sun Bear and the Asiatic Black bear as species of bears that are "rare and precious animals", which need to be protected by law from being poached, exploited and utilized. How do the Koreans and the Vietnamese look after bears? Well, for Koreans bears are not wild animals to be protected. They are useful things that make bile and wine. In Hanoi, as many as 700 bears are kept in tiny cages in backyards of homes. With paws lost while being ensnared, these animals look are hopelessly pathetic. It is believed that more than 2000 such bears may be found in Vietnam.

The removal of bile from the animal too is a barbaric procedure. Some times, they are made to undergo abdominal surgery or at other times, catheters are blindly poked in to their abdomens and by a process of trial and error, the gallbladder is located and bile removed, most times with no anaesthesia.

If one were to walk around Korea's bylanes and inspect some of the food joints. Many may be found advertising bear bile wine, paws and meat. There are reports that some animal welfare organisations have on film carcasses of whole bears floating in glass tanks filled with fermenting wine. Those interested in putting a stop to this practice should write in to animal welfare organisations in Korea.