Brown bears face diverse welfare challenges globally - from bile farming in Asia causing chronic suffering to human-conflict killings in Europe and North America, and the physiological demands of their hibernation biology.
Bear bile farming represents one of the most severe forms of animal suffering in commercial agriculture. Bears confined in metal crush cages cannot stand, turn, or move normally, causing muscle atrophy, joint disorders, and psychological breakdown. The extraction of bile through abdominal catheters or surgically created fistulas causes chronic infection, peritonitis, and pain. Many farmed bears develop liver cancer. The psychological suffering of intelligent, wide-ranging animals confined in crush cages for years is profound. In the wild, bears killed in conflict with humans die from gunshots or trapping. Bile farming bears may live for 10-30 years in these conditions - making each individual bear's suffering a multi-decade experience.