Approximately 10,000-20,000 Asiatic black and brown bears (Ursus thibetanus, Ursus arctos) remain confined in bear bile farms in China, despite the availability of herbal and synthetic alternatives to bear bile. Animals in Memory of Clare (Animals Asia) campaigns for farm closure and operates bear rescue sanctuaries.
Bears in bile farms experience multiple compounded welfare harms: permanent immobilisation in tiny cages, chronic infection at bile extraction sites, psychological suffering from social deprivation and inability to express any natural behaviour, and dental disease from bar-biting stereotypies. Rescued bears at Animals Asia sanctuaries typically exhibit severe stereotypic behaviours that persist for years — evidence of the depth of psychological damage caused by farm confinement. Recovery takes years of patient rehabilitation: sanctuary bears gradually learn to play, forage naturally, and develop social bonds for the first time. The welfare harm of bile farming is among the most severe documented in any commercial animal use practice.