Bear Bile Farming Welfare | Animal Welfare Hub

Bear bile farming involves confining bears in small cages for bile extraction through painful procedures. This practice causes extreme and prolonged suffering and is the target of international campaigns.

Key Facts

An estimated 12,000-20,000 bears are kept on bile farms in China, Vietnam, and other Asian countries.
Bears are typically kept in crush cages or small enclosures that severely restrict movement.
Bile is extracted through catheters, surgery, or free-drip methods, all causing pain and chronic infection.
Bile farming causes severe psychological distress; bears show stereotypic behaviors including self-mutilation.
Bear bile contains ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), which can be synthesized cheaply and humanely without bears.
International organizations including Animals Asia run sanctuaries rehabilitating rescued bile farm bears.

Welfare Considerations

Bear bile farming is among the most extreme forms of institutionalized animal cruelty. Bears confined for decades in cages too small to turn around, subjected to repeated painful extractions, develop severe physical and psychological deterioration. The suffering is chronic, total, and entirely avoidable: synthetic UDCA is cheaper and more consistent than bear bile and is widely available. The practice persists primarily due to cultural inertia and lack of enforcement of existing regulations. Rehabilitation of rescued bears demonstrates that even bears with severe trauma histories can recover partial quality of life in sanctuary conditions.

What You Can Do

Never purchase traditional medicine products containing bear bile.
Support organizations like Animals Asia and Free the Bears that rescue and rehabilitate bile farm bears.
Advocate for bear bile farming to be banned in all countries where it remains legal.
Raise awareness about the availability of cheaper synthetic alternatives to bear bile.
Engage with traditional medicine practitioners about the availability of synthetic UDCA alternatives.