Traditional medicine markets drive significant wildlife trade and welfare harm, while the shift away from wildlife-derived ingredients represents a major welfare opportunity.
Traditional medicine markets create some of the most severe wildlife welfare harms globally. Bear bile farming causes documented chronic pain, stress, and welfare suffering throughout the animals' lives - bears are often unable to stand upright and live in permanent confinement with catheter wounds. The demand for rhino horn, tiger bone, and pangolin scales drives illegal hunting that kills animals in the wild using methods causing significant suffering. Supporting the development and adoption of plant-based and synthetic alternatives to wildlife-derived ingredients offers a welfare-positive transition pathway.