Bear bile farming subjects thousands of bears to chronic suffering for a product that has herbal substitutes. Campaigns for bear welfare have driven significant farm closures in recent years.
Bear bile farming represents one of the most severe and well-documented cases of systematic animal suffering in traditional medicine industries. The extraction methods cause both chronic physical pain and severe psychological trauma - bears in farms show extreme stereotypic behaviors, self-directed aggression, and what behavioral scientists describe as depression-like states. The welfare case is amplified by the availability of effective alternatives: every medical application of bear bile can be met by plant-based or synthetic compounds. The campaigns to close bile farms have achieved significant success, demonstrating that sustained pressure combining welfare evidence, medical alternatives promotion, and corporate engagement can drive industry change.