Title: Bile the bear truth/The prowl for offenders bears up well
The Straits Times Section: Home. B5.
Thoughts about the article:
"Crowned as one of Asia's Big 5 iconic species recently,thousands of Asiatic black bears across Asia are still confines in tiny rusting cages and milked for their bile."
After reading this,I felt that these people who caged the bears are inhumane and not aware of the fact that Asiatic black bears are one of the most endangered species.Even though most of the TCM (traditional Chinese medicine)halls are sticking to ban on the sales of illegal animal products,there is still some black sheep not following the law.In Korea,farmers slaughter live bears in front of their customers to prove the authenticity of the gall bladder.It is a shocking piece of news to know that these endangered bears are being treated so inhumanely and killed in a painful and cruel way.Here's another evidence.In Vietnam, the bears suffer four major abdominal surgery before dying from infection and pain.These heartless practice of extracting the bile made me feel disgusted.These bears are innocent and risk being extinct soon.What is the cause of it? Human actions.They want these bile just to earn more money to sell to customers that believes the bile can cure a number of aliments.What the customers also do not know is,there are many other herbal alternatives and substitutes for the bile.I think to reduce the number of people buying any bear products,one must let them be aware of the rapid disappearance of the bears and how people actually used different means to extract the bile from the bears.
In 2007 a campaign was also launched to end the trade in endangered species.
In my opinion,I think it is the responsibility of the government to educate its people not to harm any of the endangered species and enforce a law to ban illegal animal products.Also,TCM halls should stick to the ban and be a considerate seller.As stated in the article,selling or advertising products containing parts of endangered animals carries a maximum penalty of $50000 and two years in prison.I hope in the next few years,the Asiantic bears can escape the fate of being extinct.
Meiyu
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