Traditional Medicine Wildlife Trade: Welfare Crisis Behind Ancient Practice

Traditional medicine markets drive significant wildlife trade and poaching, causing severe welfare harms to bears, tigers, rhinos, seahorses, and hundreds of other species. Addressing this trade requires understanding both its scale and the welfare harms involved.

Key Facts

The global traditional medicine wildlife trade is estimated to be worth several billion dollars annually
Around 1,500-2,000 Asiatic black bears are kept in bile farms in China and Vietnam, harvested via catheter insertion multiple times daily
Tiger bone wine uses bones from captive-bred tigers killed specifically for the product
Rhino horn is made of keratin — the same material as human fingernails — and has no proven medicinal efficacy
Seahorses are dried and used in traditional medicine; wild populations have declined by 30-50% in some regions
The pangolin is the most trafficked mammal in the world, used in traditional medicine despite protected species status
China removed bear bile from its COVID-19 treatment guidelines after international pressure in 2020
Substitutes for traditional medicine wildlife products that use plant-based or synthetic compounds exist for virtually all uses

Welfare Considerations

Bear bile farming causes chronic, severe suffering. Bears are kept in cages so small they cannot stand or turn around, sometimes for their entire lives of 5-10 years in captivity. The catheter insertion procedure for bile extraction causes pain, infection, and peritonitis. Some bears develop severe psychological distress manifested as stereotypic behaviours and self-injury. The welfare case for ending bear bile farming is unambiguous. Tiger breeding for bone wine occurs in overcrowded facilities with no welfare standards. The trade perpetuates demand that drives poaching of wild tigers. Animals Welfare Institute, Animals Asia, and World Animal Protection all campaign for international prohibition of these practices with supporting evidence of welfare harm.

What You Can Do

Support Animals Asia campaigns to end bear bile farming in China and Vietnam
Never purchase traditional medicine products containing wildlife ingredients
Advocate for your government to ban imports of traditional medicine wildlife products
Support research and promotion of plant-based and synthetic alternatives to wildlife medicine ingredients
Donate to World Animal Protection campaigns on bear bile and traditional medicine reform
Engage with Chinese and Vietnamese community partners who are working from within to change attitudes
Report suspected sales of traditional medicine wildlife products to CITES trade monitoring authorities