Sun bears are the smallest bear species and face dual threats from habitat loss and bile farming, where bears are confined in crushingly small cages and have bile extracted from their gallbladders through chronic implanted catheters.
Sun bears on bile farms experience some of the most severe and prolonged suffering documented in any farming system. Cage confinement so extreme that bears cannot stand upright or turn around causes severe musculoskeletal damage, stereotypic behaviour, and profound psychological distress. The open wounds caused by bile extraction methods become chronically infected in unsanitary conditions. Bears develop numerous secondary conditions including liver disease, tumours at puncture sites, and severe behavioural abnormalities. Many bears spend their entire adult lives — decades — in these conditions. The existence of effective synthetic alternatives to bear bile for every claimed medicinal application means there is no necessity argument for the practice. Demand reduction campaigns targeting traditional medicine users combined with enforcement of existing regulations represent the most direct path to ending this welfare crisis.