Bear Farming and Trade in China and Taiwan

by Keith Highley and Suzie Chang Highley
Earthtrust Taiwan
for The Humane Society of the United States
and Humane Society International

DEDICATION

This report is dedicated to Boonlerd Angirijinda, who passed away in 1992. His unwavering dedication to the preservation of wildlife in spite of harassment and threats to his life from Thailand's nefarious endangered species profiteers is, even now, an inspiration. In what was easily the most memorable moment of the Eighth Conference of the parties of CITES, Mr. Boonlerd's emotional plea for inclusion of the North American Black Bear in Appendix II was instrumental in swinging the vote of the Parties to approve an Appendix II listing for the species. In countries that strictly honor CITES, the listing eliminated a loophole that gave carte blanche to illegal international trade in bear parts.

Boonlerd, you are missed.

· Operation Berkshire was a two­p;and­p;a­p;half­p;year investigation, ending in 1989, carried out by the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement and the New York Bureau of Environmental Investigation in Albany. The probe netted seven men who were charged with 300 counts of hunting violations. Of the seven, three served sixty days in jail and were fined. The gang targeted bears and other species, selling their by­p;products on the black market.34

· In the late 1980s Operation Smokey netted more than 300 bear gall bladders over a three­p;year period and resulted in arrests in three states in the Smoky Mountains.35

· As of 1989, investigations under Operation Trophy Kill, a nine­p; state operation, yielded more than fifty arrests for poaching bears, deer, and other species.36

· Operation Ursus ended in February 1988. This twenty­p;three­p; month investigation spanned the northern California black bear range and Asian communities in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Fifty­p;two arrests were made, and $105,000 in goods were confiscated, including three mounted bear cubs, eighty­p; eight bear claws, and thirty­p;seven bear gall bladders.37

· In January 1994 under Operation Asian Ursus, California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) officials arrested Jim Taek Lee, a Korean American who advertised northern California hunting trips in South Korean and California Asian language newspapers. At least thirty black bears were killed and their parts sold in California and Korea, perhaps for as much as $600,000. A DFG agent noted that the case was significant because it marked the first known incidents of people being solicited from outside the United States to come to California to illegally hunt bears.38

· A one­p;and­p;a­p;half­p;year investigation spanning four states resulted in the June 1994 arrest of Joseph S. Chang, a Rosemead, California, businessman, for trafficking in bear gall bladders.39 Chang purchased 164 bear gall bladders on one occasion from undercover wildlife wardens and bragged to California DFG agents that he had purchased as many as 500 bear gall bladders at a time. The DFG believes Chang sold bear gall bladders in South Korea, Russia, China, and Alaska.

The operations underscore the relative ease with which visiting Asians and America­p;based Asian traders are able to tap into America's poaching networks or establish their own systems to obtain gall bladders and meat. The investigations also provided a further look at the scope of the trade and international market demand. One Operation Berkshire undercover officer saw two thousand bear gall bladders at one time in New York City's Chinatown.40

Although the market is driven by Asian demand, traditional apothecaries in North American Asian communities maintain stockpiles of bear parts for their own clientele. A California Fish and Game Department officer believes "virtually every traditional Chinese pharmacy either has galls on the premises or can obtain them on short notice."41 Conversations the authors have had with Taiwanese nationals residing in, or frequently visiting Vancouver, British Columbia, and Los Angeles support this premise.

Not much information was available to the authors concerning poaching in Canada, where as many as 22,000 bears are legally killed each year,42 however, anecdotal incidents hint at significant illicit trade.

A consignment of one thousand (presumably legal) Canadian black bear gall bladders were reported lost when an Air India flight bound for Bombay went down in 1985.43 Illegal trade is also evident: a buyer in Manitoba was tried in 1992 for illegally possessing 200 gall bladders;44 in 1989 an Alaska resident was arrested in Canada while attempting to purchase fifty bear gall bladders, which were said to have come from British Columbia;45 and in 1991 two Korean nationals were apprehended at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport with 168 black bear gall bladders of Canadian origin, which were purportedly ultimately bound for Japan and Alaska.46

In interviews, Canadian hunters and those familiar with hunting practices in Canada told the authors that bear gall bladders from legally and illegally taken bears are regularly sold to Asian buyers for prices ranging from $100 to $150 or more. A Parks Canada official confirms that poached bear carcasses are occasionally found with only their gall bladders removed.47

Alaska's grizzly bears and black bears are targeted by poachers, and, like elsewhere in North America, parts from legally taken bears are traded illegally on the international market. Mr. Joe Campbell, Alaska State Division of Fish and Wildlife Protection Commander, says that most cases of trafficking in bear gall bladders by non­p;U.S. citizens involve nationals from the Republic of Korea. Mr. Campbell said that a recent Anchorage Daily News article reported that South Koreans are Alaska's fastest growing ethnic population.

Traders in Anchorage, Juneau, and other Alaskan cities use legitimate businesses as fronts. In one city, a clothes alteration shop provides the setting in which potential gall bladder suppliers are approached.48 Travel agencies recruit travelers to carry gall bladders out of country.49 In one particular travel agency catering to Korean nationals, a prominently placed sign, written in Korean, encourages visitors to ask about ways to reduce the cost of their vacation. Upon inquiry, customers learn that if they are willing to carry gall bladders into Seoul's Kimpo International Airport, and perhaps other destinations, they will be well paid for their trouble.

The North Pacific Ocean provides a second avenue for trafficking contraband bear gall bladders. South Korean vessels frequently call on various Alaskan ports to haul lumber back to the Far East. Bear gall bladders, paws, and meat can be easily concealed aboard these cavernous vessels. At present the extent of smuggling of bear gall bladders and other contraband out of Alaska is unknown.50

Forty thousand black bears are legally killed in North America each year.51 An unknown portion of these animals' parts are illegally traded on international markets. Another unknown factor is the number of bears poached to meet market demand. Preliminary findings of an upcoming report by TRAFFIC USA show that not enough information concerning the bear parts trade in North America is available to judge the impact of the trade on the bears' status in the wild.52

Even if North America's bears are, at present, holding their own, their future is by no means secure. As Asian communities in Canada and the United States grow and prosper, and as bear populations in Asia are further depleted, the threat to the continent's bear populations will increase.

Chinese crime syndicates in Vancouver, British Columbia, may be a harbinger of the future for North American cities.53 If Asian organized crime syndicates-which already control the flow of the majority of heroin imported into Canada and the United States-should become involved in the illegal wildlife trade, as bear gall bladder continues to increase in value, North America's bears could be at serious risk.

· From 1979 to August 1988 TRAFFIC Japan estimated that between 11,000 and 59,000 bear gall bladders were imported into Japan from China.87 Import statistics show that from 1988 to 1990 China exported another 1,051 kilograms of bear gall bladders to Japan- representing perhaps another 10,000 bears.88

· In a Chengdu marketplace, during a one­p;hour period, two men viewed the "skeletons and parts" of 168 black bears.89 Other surveys have reported similar numbers.90

· South Korean nationals visiting northeastern China are notorious for smuggling bear gall bladders out of the country. To combat the smuggling, the Heilongjiang government issued a ban on bear gall bladder exports until 1995.91 In 1991 the decree had yet to stop the outflow, as ROK visitors, some wearing clothing designed to hide the fig­p;size gall bladders, continued to smuggle the contraband out of the country.92

Although this investigation did not include Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, IFAW investigators report that in November 1993 they were offered bear gall bladders and bear paws in Chengdu's Chinese medicine market.93 Prices quoted to the investigators were RMB2,000 ($230) per gall bladder or RMB40,000 ($4,608) per kilogram.

No information is available about Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces to the Northeast. Mills and Servheen say that Heilongjiang and Jilin may comprise "China's last, best bear habitat,"94 thus poaching and trade in bear parts certainly occur there.

The scope of the investigation covered by this report encompassed Guangzhou, Shanghai, Dalian in Liaoning Province, and Kunming in Yunnan Province. Products containing farmed bile were widely available but only in Guangzhou were merchants willing to sell whole gall bladders.

Guangzhou merchants are well known for trading in protected and endangered wildlife. In the city's notorious Qingping market, wildlife products ranging from dried seahorses and snakes to live turtles, pangolins, and even peacocks are sold for human consumption. Trucks laden with live bears bound for Guangzhou restaurants or other markets have been widely noted (see section on bear paws). In the 1980s rhinoceros horn was openly available in local pharmacies95 In 1993, after the state­p;mandated May 29 ban on trade in rhino horn, Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) investigators were offered more than one ton of rhinoceros horn by Guangzhou traders.96

Four of thirteen pharmacies visited in Guangzhou offered the author whole bear gall bladders, or what were purported to be bear gall bladders. A few of the pharmacies offered only manufactured medicines; however, the author inquired about purchasing whole bear gall bladders in these shops anyway. Prices were quoted by the gram in two of these pharmacies. These shops offered a discounted price for whole gall bladders and slightly higher prices for smaller purchases. In the first case, a gall bladder weighing 144 grams was quoted at RMB48.82 ($5.62) per gram for the entire bladder and RMB64.54 ($7.44) per gram for part thereof. In the second case, prices were RMB50 ($5.76) per gram for the entire gall bladder and RMB70 ($8.06) per gram for a portion. The gall bladder in the latter pharmacy weighed 90 grams. The author was urged to buy the gall bladder because, although the pharmacist was willing to check with her warehouse, she could not say for sure whether or not they could get more gall bladders in the near future. A third shop offered bear gall bladder for RMB51 ($5.87) per gram.

In Guangzhou, the most significant indicator of substantial trade came when the investigator visited the Guangzhou City Raw Medicine Trade Center, a wholesale outlet. Mr. Zhou Zhi­p;wei, a manager at the center, was willing to sell whole bear gall bladders for RMB35,000 ($4,032) per kilogram. Zhou said he frequently sells bear gall bladders, several kilograms at a time, to Taiwanese nationals. In March 1994 he sold his entire on­p;hand stock of 8 kilograms to a Taiwanese man who had hoped to purchase even more. Zhou had already begun collecting more whole gall bladders to sell to the next buyer. He was extremely confident that in the near future he could sell 10 kilograms or more at a time.

On July 12, the author phoned Mr. Zhou from Taiwan to inquire about purchasing 5 kilograms of bear gall bladder. Zhou said that he did not have that amount in his possession but that when the author next visited Guangzhou he could arrange the transaction.

Another pharmacy in Guangzhou was the site of an odd encounter. When queried, the shopkeeper stated he had just received a government notice forbidding any further sale of bear gall bladders. Nonetheless, the shopkeeper invited the author to the shop's second floor, where he unlocked a safe and pulled out packaged bile crystals from Jilin and Heilongjiang. Both products were and still are legal, but the store owner genuinely thought they were illegal. Perhaps he misunderstood their origin and believed they contained bile from wild bears. The perplexed author did not prompt him about buying the crystals, but in the end, despite his perception of illegality, he offered to sell them.

The pharmacist's behavior might have been because of recent efforts by Chinese officials to stop the trade in other endangered species. The authors' investigation in Guangzhou in April 1994 came less than a year after the May 1993 Public Notice banning the use of rhinoceros horn and tiger bone. The circular called for an immediate halt to production of medicines containing the two substances. It also allowed a six­p;month grace period, ending November 30, 1993, for traders to dispose of existing stocks containing these products. Although trade in bear gall bladders had previously been outlawed, the official notice referred to by the pharmacist may have been a reminder handed down from the state or provincial levels.

Bear Paws

In China bear paws are served as an expensive entree in some restaurants and can be purchased in a small number of pharmacies. Consumption, however, is illegal under China's 1989 Wildlife Protection Law.97

Bear paws are also a popular food in South Korea and Japan. To satisfy market demand, in the 1970s an estimated 900 kilograms of bear paws per year were exported from China to Japan.98 That figure decreased to an average of 500 to 600 kilograms per year in the late 1980s.99 In 1990 4,000 kilograms of bear paws destined for Japan and Korea, in contravention of CITES, was intercepted in the port city of Dalian.100 The paws had been illegally collected by Chinese Forestry officials.

For the domestic market, Mills and Servheen report that in Harbin alone an estimated two tons of bear paws were consumed annually prior to 1989.101 Although the practice is now illegal, it is likely that in Harbin and other northern areas, citizens consume substantial quantities of bear paws and meat.

Other documentation shows bear paws being sold in other parts of China since 1990. Over a one­p;month period in the winter of 1990, an investigator in southeastern China working for the TRAFFIC network, viewed over fifty paws from Asiatic black bears and more than twenty paws from brown bears.102 Paws were offered to two IFAW investigators in Chengdu in 1993,103 and Taiwanese nationals who travel to southeastern China also state that paws are available in restaurants and street markets.

A writer who travels extensively in China says one PRC source reports seeing an increase in automobiles with Guangzhou license plates in Yunnan Province. The vehicles are loaded with wildlife taken illegally from neighboring countries like Laos, Vietnam, and Burma,104 all of which border Yunnan Province. Bears or bear parts are more than likely at the top of these traders' shopping lists.

Further documented incidents of illegal trade include some live shipments of bears that were confiscated. In 1988 six men were arrested in Guangxi Province with forty live bear cubs taken from Sichuan Province.105 Another smuggler with nine black bears purchased in Yunnan was caught in Guangxi as he made his way to Guangzhou.106 Bears smuggled into Guangzhou and other cities in China are probably sold live to restaurants or butchered and sold piecemeal to local restaurants and pharmacies.

Bear farms are also a possible source of paws and meat. The owner of the Wei Zhou Technology Development Centre for Bears in the Guangdong Province Farm of Animals for Medicinal Use told IFAW investigators he will consider selling his bears, when they are beyond their milking prime, to Taiwanese gourmands for a bear banquet at Hong Kong dollar (HK) 10,000 ($1,152) per bear.107

IFAW investigators visited another operation, the Nanping Bear Farm of the Special Economic Zone of Zhuhai, on several occasions in 1993. While documenting the horrendous conditions of the farm, they also noticed that three of the bears were each missing a paw.108 IFAW ultimately persuaded the Chinese government to shut down the facility.109

Nanping farm manager Chan Jin Shi angrily denies reports that his bears had their paws amputated. During an interview with Chan, however, a reporter noticed bottles of bear paw liquid lining the farm's shelves.110 Chan accounted for the liquid by claiming that he had had two bear deaths due to illness. "The hospital could not cure them and they died. Therefore we applied for permission to use the paws in our production of bear paw liquid."111

While in China the authors came across bear paws on only three occasions: in a hotel restaurant in Dalian, in a village in rural Guangdong Province, and in a Kunming City pharmacy. At the Beijing Lou restaurant in Dalian's Regent Hotel, braised bear paws were advertised on a three­p;sided, revolving, illuminated sign, with enlarged photos of several dishes, including bear paws. A waitress at the restaurant claimed the fare was popular as a banquet entree and was sold "by the table" for RMB5,000 ($576) or more, depending on the number of diners.

At a small restaurant in Chonghua, a village in Guangdong Province, the authors inquired about bear paws and tiger meat and were informed that the restaurant did not serve bear meat or other endangered species. However, a man who happened to overhear the query said he could supply bear paws and tiger meat and asked the authors to accompany him to a different part of the village to discuss the matter.

After a quick drive to another restaurant, the man, surnamed Wen, explained that he could not discuss endangered species at the other restaurant out of fear of being overheard and turned in to the authorities. That restaurant is government­p;run, and tigers and bears, he said, are "number one species on China's animal protection list."

Wen said that bear paws are available for RMB3,000 ($346) each. The price included preparation by a chef. Wen added that he would need advance notice, as the paw takes several days to stew.

Wen also offered tiger meat for between RMB550 ($63) to RMB800 ($92) per kilogram, depending on the amount purchased. He claimed to have 40 kilograms of tiger meat on hand.

The author also saw bear paws at the aptly named Yunnan Rare Drugs Pharmacy in Kunming City. A pair of what were claimed to be the rear paws of an Asiatic black bear, priced at RMB270 ($31) per paw, were prominently displayed in a glass counter along with elephant hide, deer penises, and other animal products. At a subsequent visit two weeks later, only one paw was displayed in the window.

During the second visit, the author asked several questions about using bear paws. The clerk first explained that the shop frequently sells bear paws: rarely does a pair go unsold for more than a few weeks. The clerk said she believes that the paws are taken from bears from northeastern China. She explained that bear paws can be prepared in a soup or a stew with a wide range of herbs. She was not familiar with specific medicinal uses, although like most Chinese, she believes a bear's front paws are more potent because bears lick them more. The Chinese also prefer front paws over rear paws because the front paws carry less of the animal's weight and are, as a result, more tender. The clerk also said she believes that because bears lick their left paw more than their right, the left paw is better.

During the course of the conversation the clerk went to the back of the pharmacy, returned with a small sack, and invited the author to pull out and examine the contents: two fresh front bear paws, priced at RMB360 ($41) per paw. The paws were pungent and had white, fatty oil deposits at the point where the paws were severed.

Discussion and Recommendations

China's conservation officials who speak out in defense of bear farms may not be aware of the many problems inherent in the industry. The general feeling among Chinese conservation officials is that the PRC is under attack by a "small number of international activists who put undue emphasis on protection and oppose any opinions that support use of animals."112
To be sure, the bears on China's farms are condemned to a life of unspeakable mental and physical pain-and animal protection organizations are right to oppose farming. The goal of the project, however, was to look beyond the question of the animals' treatment to the broader question of whether artificial extraction of bear bile reduces the pressure on bears in the wild.

Taken individually, any one of the farms discussed here might not be cause for conservation concern. Collectively, however, the various corroborating comments made by farm managers and industry representatives paint the picture of an industry out of control. Specifically, there are three main problems with bear farming:

(1) Bears are illegally wild­p;caught to supplement existing farm populations. Little is known about the status of China's bears in the wild. It is extremely unlikely that the black bear is anywhere near as plentiful as Chinese officials claim. With this in mind, and based on the findings of this report, the proliferation of farms stocked with wild­p; caught bears is directly affecting China's wild populations of the Asiatic black bear and brown bear. Bears are also being taken, in violation of CITES, from Burma (Myanmar) and neighboring countries to supply the farm trade in China.

Although the government claims to discourage the capture of wild bears (no permits to capture bears have been issued since 1989), few farms are stocked with anything except wild­p;caught bears. Of the farms visited or researched during this investigation, only one, the Nationality [sic] Pharmaceutical Factory in Ruili, is even contemplating breeding its bears. Economics-not conservation-is the primary motivation for considering this option; purchasing enough wild­p;caught bears to meet the farm's ambitious goal of possessing 500 milking bears by the year 2000 may be financially prohibitive. Other farms' representatives readily admit that when the need arises bears are captured from the wild.

The past, present, and projected taking of wild bears probably occurs on the majority of farms in the PRC. The Sichuan Deer Farm, which is said to have a captive breeding program, is the exception rather than the rule. As a result, the day when China's caged bears outnumber their wild counterparts may come very soon, if it is not already upon us.

(2) Bear bile is used to create nonessential or even luxury goods. The thought of subjecting bears to a life of suffering in cages so small that the animals cannot stand erect or turn around, for the purpose of extracting bile, is unconscionable to most people. Proponents of farming argue that the means justify the end because the extracted bile is used in medicines that prevent and treat human disease. Too many bear by­p;products, however, are evidence to the contrary. The fact that shampoo, throat lozenges, hemorrhoid cream, herbal tea, cough syrup, and cosmetics are the products of a bear's imprisonment belie claims that the animals' plight alleviates human suffering.

(3) Aggressive marketing and advertising stands to increase demand for bile products. In Guangzhou, Gold Bear Oral Liquid is aggressively marketed as a cure­p;all elixir. Similar marketing practices exist for other bile products. Government­p;run airports, Friendship stores, and popular tourist attractions such as the Forbidden City sell bile crystals in smartly packaged felt­p;lined boxes.

It is difficult to gauge the extent to which these goods are consumed by the general population. Clerks selling bile products claim to never have tried them because they are too expensive and say that they are beyond the financial reach of most people in China.

If these goods, which transcend the traditional uses of bear gall bladder, should become affordable to the general public, there is a danger that demand for bear bile will increase. Should this happen, farm managers will seek to meet demand by increasing output. The standard method of increasing output, at least in the farms documented here, is by augmenting their existing stock with wild­p; caught bears.

It is not clear whether the availability of farmed bile products has reduced the amount of whole bear gall bladders in trade in China. This investigation documented relatively few pharmacists and just one supplier in Guangzhou willing to sell whole bear gall bladder. That supplier, the Guangzhou City Raw Medicine Trade Center, regularly sells bear gall bladder by the kilogram-an amount that indicates that a relatively large number are still in trade.

In addition, no hard evidence exists that the bear gall bladders on the market in Guangzhou are genuine (as opposed to being from pigs or other animals) and, if genuine, whether they were obtained from poached or farmed animals. Analysis of bear gall bladder samples purchased in a recent study indicate a "strong possibility that genuine bear gall bladders on sale in Hong Kong are from farmed bears.113 The samples analyzed indicate that bile acids secreted by farmed and wild bears may be different, making identification of the two types of bear gall bladders possible.114

If a portion of the gall bladders offered for sale in Guangzhou or elsewhere are from farmed bears, it certainly does not mean that wild bears are not taken whenever possible in their remaining range in China and sold in markets in Guangzhou, Chengdu, northeastern China, or exported to South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.

Farmed bear gall bladders possibly make up the majority of genuine bear gall bladders in Hong Kong. This indicates that when a farmed bear dies, in many cases, at least its gall bladder is illegally marketed internationally. Chinese officials often state that bears on farms live long lives, but the market volume of gall bladders originating from farmed bears indicates that these bears must be dying, or are purposely killed to market their gall bladders, in large numbers.

The findings of this investigation suggest that bear farms do not contribute to the conservation of wild bears. Artificially extracted bile may never be seen as a viable alternative to that of wild bears in other consumer nations. Meeting domestic demand with captive animals should be possible, however, because so­p;called patent or processed medicines are accepted and more popular than raw medicines in China. In fact, officials claim that output already exceeds demand. But can China's bear farms supply the domestic market without affecting wild bear populations? At present the answer is no, but it may be possible in the future.

The two most important steps China can take to lessen the impact of farms on wild bear populations are (1) to immediately begin an inventory of all existing farms to determine which facilities continue to capture bears from the wild and take steps to ensure the practice is stopped and (2) to immediately disallow production of cosmetics and other nonmedicinal products.

PRC officials state that the production of milked bile already exceeds the country­p;wide demand. A halt in the production of shampoos, teas, throat lozenges, hemorrhoid creams, and other dubious products containing bile will further widen the gap between production and domestic consumption.

A critical self­p;evaluation of registered facilities will undoubtedly uncover installations that fail to meet minimum standards. It should also be relatively easy to determine the location of nonsanctioned farms. These facilities, especially those that were illegally set up, will be prime candidates for closure.

If PRC officials should undertake the above recommendations and investigations, what would be the fate of surplus bears? The IFAW first proposed that substandard farms be closed and the unemployed bears relocated to sanctuaries. Although establishing sanctuaries in natural settings could be difficult, it would not be impossible. Ultimately the number of sanctuaries and bear inhabitants would be limited only by China's resolve to tackle the out­p;of­p;control bear farming industry.

Another important step is to promote the use of substitutes for bear gall bladder. Just as patent medicines are more easily accepted by consumers in China than in other Asian countries, it is probable that herbal substitutes will be more readily adopted in China than elsewhere.

A plethora of accepted, natural substitutes for bear gall bladder exist (see section on substitutes). Bear farms have been promoted by the government as a means of promoting Chinese medicine, generating revenue, and conserving bears. With government support, large­p;scale farming of herbal substitutes for bear gall and other endangered species could become a profitable industry. More importantly, the switch to a plant­p;based medicine industry would be totally consistent with the promotion of Chinese medicine and the conservation of bears in the wild.

A gradual, government­p;assisted transition from bear bile to herbal drugs with the same medicinal qualities is the best possible way to reduce the demand for bile and the number of bears on farms. China should adopt the above recommendations and abandon thoughts of international commercialization of artificially extracted bear bile. NORTH KOREA AND SOUTH KOREA

Little is known about bear farms in North Korea (the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea [DPRK]). Some evidence does, however, point to their long existence. While still in Beijing the authors discovered Baekdusan Bear's Gall Tea at a Friendship store. The tea is labeled with product details in Mandarin, Korean, and English. It is supposedly made "mainly from bear's gall of Mt. Baekdusan in North Korea." Mills and Servheen report that bear farms have been operating in North Korea for more than twenty years.115 We first learned of North Korea's farms from a Taiwanese physician in 1990. The doctor, who treats patients using a combination of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and acupuncture, had been invited to a North Korean facility, but the trip never materialized.

A sales clerk familiar with Baekdusan products said that they are the product of a joint venture between the PRC and the DPRK. Although the box proclaims that the bile is from North Korean bears, the Friendship store clerk seemed confident that it was taken from bears at a farm in Heilongjiang Province, China.

There is no information available on North Korean investment in China, but in 1990 joint ventures with the ROK were on the rise in Heilongjiang and Jilin, Chinese provinces currently known to have farms.116 Further evidence exists in the form of bear bile products packaged with accompanying Korean­p;language literature from the Wang Qing Wild Animal Breeding Center in Jilin Province and other farms.

South Korea's rapacious appetite for bear gall bladders is also well known. This investigation revealed the steady demand for bile products by ROK visitors. There is a strong chance that large amounts of manufactured medicines and other products containing milked bile are regularly shipped from China for sale on the South Korean market.

· During the survey period Taiwan's role in the rhinoceros horn and tiger bone trade and the ultimate possibility of trade sanctions under the Pelly Amendment were covered almost daily by the Chinese press.

· In February another NGO initiated a similar survey to determine rhinoceros horn and bear gall bladder availability and met with COA officials to discuss their findings. COA officials dutifully reported this meeting to the media, and several articles appeared in the local press advising that foreign NGOs were investigating the bear gall bladder trade.

· In 1994, government inspectors stepped up their investigation of rhinoceros horn and tiger bone availability in local pharmacies by using undercover techniques to identify illegal traders.

· The final factor is that on November 8, 1993, a second Pelly petition, citing Taiwan and China for illegal trade in Appendix I bears, leopards, and nonhuman primates, was filed by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), Earth Island Institute (EII), and five other conservation organizations.145

Despite the fact that trade in bear gall bladder is legal in Taiwan, these events served to put traditional pharmacists on guard. It is likely that a large percentage of pharmacists interviewed who denied possessing or trading in bear gall were lying.

The exchange rate used to compare the New Taiwan (NT) dollar to the U.S. dollar amounts given in this report is: NT$26.50=US$1.00.
Survey Results

Customs statistics provide little information on the bear gall bladder trade in Taiwan. From 1981 through 1985 only 25 kilograms (possibly 33 kilograms) of bear gall bladder were legally imported (see table 1); however, bear bone and tiger bone imports (listed under one import/export category by the Inspectorate General of Customs) were significant: from January 1981 through November of 1987 (excluding 1986, for which statistics were not available), 11,291 kilograms of bones from the two species legally entered the island (see table 2). The Taiwan market for tiger bone is well documented,146 but little is known about the demand for bear bones in traditional medicine, except that it is used to treat rheumatism of the joints. Without knowing what percentage of bone imports were from bears, it is impossible to estimate how many bears or tigers would have been killed to amass this total.

Year   Country   Import (kg)   Value (NT)

1981   Canada        3            62
       Singapore     4            89

1982   Canada	ND     8*
       Hong Kong     3           321

1983   Canada        3            58

1984   No imports

1985   Hong Kong     2            37

Source: Statistical Department, Inspectorate General of Customs, Taiwan.
ND = No data; NT = New Taiwan Dollar.
* probably a mistaken entry: the entry "8" under "value" should probably be under "import," leaving the monetary value unknown.

Year        Country     Export (kg)       Import (kg)

1981      Total            NR                1841
          Hong Kong        NR                1600
			Singapore        NR                 241

1982      Total            100               1900
          Hong Kong        NR                1100
          South Korea      100                NR
          Singapore        NR                 800

1983      Total            NR                2710
          Hong Kong        NR                2710

1984      Total            NR                2131
          Hong Kong        NR                 950
          Indonesia        NR                 100
          Singapore        NR                1012
          Thailand         NR                  69

1985      Total            NR                2579
          Hong Kong        NR                645
          Malaysia         NR                740
          Singapore        NR                1194

1986      Total            No figures available

1987*     Total             8                130

Grand Total 1981­p;1987+		108             11,291



Source: Statistical Department, Inspectorate General of Customs, Taiwan.
NR = no report.
* 1987 figures for January through November only.
+ Recognizing the lack of data for 1986.

· Hikers reported to the authors that two Formosan black bears (a subspecies of the Asiatic black bear, S. thibetanus formosanus, of which between 200 and 1,000 survive in the wild)152 lived on the grounds of a temple on the outskirts of Taipei. The temple also houses two tigers and a lion.

· Yeliu Ocean World, Taiwan's only oceanarium, holds three sun bears. The animals are apparently registered, but how they were obtained is in question. In cages alongside the bears are twenty tigers. Yeliu's management is rumored to have illegally bought, bred, and sold tigers and, as recently as 1990, purchased dolphins captured in a dolphin drive.

· In February 1994, the authors happened across three sun bears kept in a small cage on a main street in Kaohsiung.

· An April 1994 incident illustrated the government's lax attitude toward conservation wildlife and highlighted the demand for bear parts on the island. An article titled "Bear dies, brings Chinese medicine business," which ran in the local press, described the trials of an owner after his pet bear died.153 The owner attempted to get a veterinarian to visit and certify the cause of the animal's death, which is required by law. He was unable to obtain the services of a veterinarian and contacted a local government office for assistance. Once word of the owner's plight got out, instead of a government response, he was visited by traditional Chinese medicine traders who tried to negotiate the corpse's release. When the owner still received no reply from government representatives, he was forced to refrigerate the carcass while awaiting a response.

Taiwanese Abroad

One of the main leisure activities, at home or abroad, for Taiwan's free­p;spending consumers is dining out. Exorbitantly priced meals or banquets, often including rare or endangered species, boost the status of the host and signify the importance of the event. In one extreme instance a businessman in Taizhong, in central Taiwan, hosted a banquet at which was served a twelve­p;course meal, using the recipes of the imperial court of the Ching dynasty. The ticket price: NT$500,000 ($18,868).154 The restaurant serving up the banquet, the Pu Chung Pao, had previously been written up in the local press for one of its premier dishes, tiger penis soup.155

Bear paw, which is considered one of the "eight most precious delicacies in Chinese cuisine,"156 has become increasingly difficult to obtain in Taiwan, thus it is frequently sought abroad by Taiwan's burgeoning class of international travelers. More than 15 percent of the island's population-3.36 million people-traveled overseas in 1991,157 spending a staggering total of $5.7 billion dollars.158 That year over 90 percent of outbound tourists visited Asian destinations, including 1.2 million to China alone.

In China, Taiwanese tourism is now worth an estimated $600 million per year.159 The appetite of ROC nationals on the mainland for bear paw, which is, of course, technically illegal, and other exotic fare is said to be second to none.160

Poor examples set by government officials encourage such expansive consumption. In 1989, when KMT officials at the Asian Development Bank in Beijing dined on bear paws, camel humps, and other wildlife delicacies, the media were quick to report it.161

Television also increases demand by glamorizing the consumption of endangered species. In 1993 on a popular prime­p;time Taiwanese travel show, the authors viewed a segment showing a waiter proudly displaying one of the restaurant's famous entrees, bear paws, while a narrator gave a mouth­p;watering account of how the paw was to be prepared and explained that it is one of the restaurant's signature dishes.

Of perhaps even greater concern is the demand for endangered species dishes created by Taiwan's gourmands in Vietnam, as documented by EII from 1990 to 1993 in a report titled The Black Market Wildlife Trade in Vietnam.162 Although Europeans and nationals from various Asian countries also purchase and consume wildlife products in Vietnam, the report quotes Vietnamese merchants as saying that Taiwanese visitors are "without exception" their best customers. On one occasion EII investigators filmed a Taiwanese buying two adult bears for a restaurant and interviewed a woman grilling seven bear paws for a group of Taiwanese men who had promised to pay $70 for each paw.

A Taiwanese NGO, sent to Vietnam by COA in April to investigate EII's charges, reported that Taiwanese tourists indeed constituted "the largest group of buyers of animal parts" and that "Taiwanese [nationals] have boosted the slaughter of wildlife in Vietnam.163 The Taiwan Tourism Bureau demanded that travel agencies, who organize "wildlife eating tours" cease doing so or face punishment. Travel agents anonymously responded that "no travel agent would take the risk of losing customers" by not offering wildlife dishes to their patrons.164

Taiwanese tourists also have a history of frequenting Thailand's endangered species markets and restaurants. Cambodia is said to host an increasing number of Taiwanese and other tourists from the region. In a letter to the authors, Thailand­p;based conservationist Leonie Vejjajiva states: "Kampuchea is hell for bears. The paws are cut off by use of a guillotine, to serve to mostly...Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese tourists."165

A March 1994 tragedy in which twenty­p;four Taiwanese tourists were murdered on a pleasure boat cruise in China sent shock waves through Taiwan, sparking a short­p;lived ban on tours to China. The ban has since been lifted, but the incident had the unpredictable effect of opening up Burma as a popular destination for Taiwanese tourists. The situation in Burma, with regard to the consumption of endangered species by Taiwanese or other foreign nationals, is as of yet undocumented but probably similar to that of Vietnam and other countries in the region.

Bear Gall Bladder in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine is based on the principle of homeostasis. It has been described as "an integrated body of empirical knowledge and experience developed in a similar way to that of a person trying to detect the physical changes of a sealed black box and to devise means to restore it to a 'normal' state."166 By observing a wide range of physical and biological changes in humans, using a system of mutually opposing but interdependent and interchanging points, a physician can determine the location, nature, severity, and, in many cases, the cause of an illness.

The history of traditional Chinese medicine dates back to 2838 B.C., about 100 years after the dawn of Chinese civilization.167 One of the most famous Chinese herbals, Ben Cao Gang Mu, was written by Li Shih­p;chen during the Ming dynasty (1590). In fifty­p;two volumes, Li compiled a record of 1,518 varieties of previously recorded drugs and introduced 374 new herbs.168 Of the 1,892 ingredients listed in Ben Cao Gang Mu, animal parts make up less than ten percent, the majority of which are insects.169

Medicinal uses for bear gall bladder were first noted in the seventh century A.D. in the Materia Medica of Medicinal Properties.170 Medical applications for bear gall bladder were also described in early Arabian and Indian herbals.171

The use of animal parts in Chinese medicine stems from the belief that substances found in animal products are similar to those found in our own bodies. It is believed that the potency of a substance found in an animal­p;based drug will be many times greater than that of a plant compound.172 Plants and animals used in Chinese medicine are classified according to various properties: four essences (cold, hot, warm, and cool); five flavors (pungent, sweet, sour, bitter, and salty); and four directions of action (ascending, descending, floating, and sinking). Bear gall bladder is classified as bitter and cold. Bitter drugs dispel heat, dry dampness, and purge the body, while cold drugs are effective in reducing fever and inflammation, cooling the blood, and detoxifying the body.

According to Ben Cao Gang Mu, bear gall bladder can eliminate parasites, cool the heart and the liver, and brighten the eyes. Historically, bear gall bladder has also been used to alleviate spasms and delirium caused by extensive burns; reduce swelling and pain in cases of trauma, sprains, fractures, or hemorrhoids; ease pain in hot skin lesions; treat hepatitis and hepatic coma;173 and to treat hyperemia, nebula, jaundice, convulsions in infants, and chronic diarrhea.174
A group of Hong Kong physicians list the "usual illnesses associated with the use of bear parts in Chinese medicine" as cancer of the lungs, liver, intestines, breasts, stomach, and uterus; hemorrhoids; gallstones; vomiting; toxicities; broken bones and similar injuries; knife wounds; and syphilis.175

Information compiled on clinical research analyzing the medicinal properties of bear gall bladder indicate that it might be an effective analgesic, anthelmintic, antidotal, antiphlogistic, and antipyretic medicine; and it might possibly be effective in treating convulsions, jaundice, ulcers, and poor vision.176

Physicians interviewed in Taiwan view bear gall bladder as effective in treating the following ailments: internal injuries, high cholesterol count, jaundice, high fever, liver, throat and nose infections, parasites in the stomach, and bleeding concussion. Pharmacists also prescribe the substance to help thin and purify the blood, detoxify the body, stop seizures and reduce infection, and to relieve swelling and tearing of the eyes.

In addition to traditional medicinal uses, on Taiwan, herbs and animal parts are commonly used in pian fang (remedies), and tonics not recognized as traditional Chinese medicine. The extent to which bear gall bladder is used in pian fang is unknown.
Many physicians also commented that bear gall bladder is popular as a cosmetic. Wu bao fen,177 a mixture of gall bladders from five different animals, is frequently sold to improve the look of the skin. According to several pharmacists, women are the chief consumers of gall bladder for cosmetic benefits. In one case a pharmacist in southern Taiwan encouraged the use of bear gall bladder to give the eyes a glow. He cited the example of a nurse for whom he regularly prepares a mixture of bear gall bladder and pearls. After taking this concoction the nurse's eyesight and the physical appearance of her eyes greatly improved.

Substitutes

The main components of bear bile salts are ursodeoxycholyl­p;taurine, cholyl­p;taurine, and chenodeoxycholyl, and ursodeoxycholic acid.178 Research shows that ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is the active ingredient in bear bile, and it is produced in significant quantities only in bears.179

Natural and semisynthetic substitutes for bear gall bladder exist. A recent report by the Association of Chinese Medicine and Philosophy and the Earth Care Society lists fifty­p;four plant and one animal (pig gall bladder) substitutes for bear gall bladder.180 A few pharmacists in Taiwan commented that, in higher doses, cow, pig, and goat gall bladder are effectively substituted. Traditional medical literature also indicates that cow gall bladder can be substituted at higher doses.181

A Japanese company markets synthetic UDCA, which is derived from cow bile, domestically and in the United States, Taiwan, and South Korea.182 South Koreans alone reportedly consume 40 tons of synthetic UDCA per year as a liver tonic and to prevent hangovers.183

If embraced by traditional medicine practitioners and consumers, synthetic UDCA and the many readily available natural substitutes could substantially curb demand for bear gall bladder. Although many traditional pharmacists rebuff the West's cries for increased use of substitutes for endangered species, one organization, the Hong Kong­p; based Association of Chinese Medicine and Philosophy, with members in Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, and China, has taken on the herculean task of promoting herbal medicines and "combating the misconception that only animals ingredients are the best supplements and medicine" for human consumption.184

Substitutes should be vigorously promoted; the array of available natural substances can effectively treat the wide range of illnesses for which bear gall bladder is presently used. It is unrealistic, however, to expect that a significant number of consumers and dispensers in the major consumer nations who now subscribe to the legitimate medicinal uses-as well as dubious remedies and nonmedical uses-of bear gall bladder will easily abandon their present beliefs and habits of consumption.

This reluctance is due mainly to two factors. First, substances found in animals are quite similar to those found in our own bodies. A given animal compound or drug is said to be much more potent than that of a corresponding plant. For this reason, rhinoceros, tiger, and bear parts are viewed as being far superior to Madagascar periwinkle herb or rhubarb (both substitutes for bear gall bladder).

Second, the rarity of any species of fauna for which demand is high, especially in Asia and more especially when the species has or is perceived to have medicinal or aphrodisiac qualities, sets in motion a perverse speculative mentality. Importers and wholesalers purchase as much of the item as possible and, in some cases, consumers purchase the species because of its rarity and high price-the high price being an added assurance that the gall bladder, horn, or bone is the best possible drug available. In some cases, end consumers also purchase endangered species medicines as a show of affluence.

A third reason that substitutes have not been and probably will not be more readily adopted, at least in the near future, is that governments in consumer nations have done virtually nothing to promote the use of alternatives to endangered species. In Taiwan, rather than address the issue at all, the government has provided loopholes to allow trade in all bears; the subject of substitutes has not even been broached. In China, the industrialization of bears threatens to increase demand for bear bile in traditional applications, create new markets for nontraditional applications, and further the Chinese view that there is no substitute for bear gall bladder. Further, the promotion of farmed bile may actually increase demand for wild bear gall bladder.

Discussion and Recommendations

When this study was initiated in February 1994, twenty­p;one out of twenty­p;six pharmacists were willing to sell bear gall bladder to the author. As suspicions of market surveys were reported in the local press during the latter part of this investigation a significant drop­p;off in availability occurred: of eighteen apothecaries surveyed from March to June, only six were willing to sell bear gall bladder. Bear gall bladder is probably available in a much higher percentage of pharmacies than reflected in this survey. A 1991 study reported it available in thirty of thirty­p;four pharmacies in Taipei-in substantial amounts in some instances.185 A survey conducted by the EIA in early 1994 found that thirty­p;five of forty shopkeepers willing to sell bear gall bladder.186 To date, only one government study has been carried out. In early 1994 Taiwan's Department of Health conducted an investigation of sixty­p; four traditional pharmacies and found that exactly half of pharmacists questioned were willing to sell what they purported to be bear gall bladder.187

Many pharmacists regard bear gall bladder as a medicinal staple, although some report that demand has dropped off over the past few years because of the high price bear gall bladder now commands. One pharmacist bluntly stated that any traditional pharmacist who claims not to stock bear gall bladder is lying. Another summed up the prevailing attitude about the government's highly publicized scrutiny of traditional medicine shops by saying he would wait until it was safe before selling bear gall bladder again. Two physicians familiar with the trade also believe that virtually every pharmacy on the island possesses one to two gall bladders and probably consume that much each year. Assuming that the average weight of a bear gall bladder is 114 grams,188 this would mean that one pharmacy dispenses between 114 and 228 grams of bear gall bladder annually.

A broader perspective is problematic, although not impossible to achieve. Estimated conservatively, at least three­p;fourths of the traditional pharmacies on Taiwan stock bear gall bladder. The precise annual island­p;wide consumption of bear gall bladder on Taiwan is unknown. There are 9,244 registered pharmacies across the island,189 and an unknown number of unregistered apothecaries, probably numbering well under 1,000, also dispense traditional medicine. If the estimated annual consumption of one to two gall bladders per pharmacy is accurate, roughly 9,000 to 18,000 gall bladders may be dispensed annually by Taiwan's registered pharmacies. Obviously, these figures decrease when the same simple consumption estimate of one to two gall bladders per year is multiplied by the conservative estimate of three­p;fourths of registered pharmacies possessing and prescribing bear gall bladder. Although these estimates are extremely crude, an annual island­p;wide consumption of as much as 9,000 bear gall bladders is not implausible.

The belief in the efficacy of bear gall bladder is the main reason for the substance's popularity with the traditional medicine community. Closely tied to this, however, is the financial incentive to trade, especially for wholesalers and importers. The substance commands incredibly high prices: sold retail, bear gall bladder fetches NT800,000 per kilogram ($30,118). When compared with the wholesale price documented in China ($4,032 per kilogram), this represents a seven­p; fold mark­p;up.

Unfortunately, due to the sensitivity of the subject, the wholesale price for bear gall bladder on Taiwan remained a trade secret. One pharmacist told the author that she had recently purchased a whole gall bladder for NT$30,000 ($1,132) from a friend who had purchased it in China. Assuming the gall bladder is of average weight (114 grams), the per gram price would be $10, while a kilogram would sell for roughly $10,000. This might give an indication of the wholesale price for bear gall bladder on Taiwan.

The average retail price for bear gall bladder on Taiwan today (3.75 grams for $113) corresponds roughly with the highest retail price, $30 per gram, recorded in 1991. (Mills and Servheen noted prices ranging from $8 to $30 per gram.)190 Thus, over the past three years the price of bear gall bladder has risen somewhat. Today's prices on Taiwan do not approach those noted in South Korea in 1990 and 1991, when what was thought to be authentic bear gall bladder sold for between $22 to $210 per gram.191

The market for bear gall bladder on Taiwan is a cause for great concern. Along with South Korea, Taiwan seems to be the main force driving the demand for bear gall bladders in China. Taiwan may in fact rival South Korea in terms of consumption. Mills and Servheen, authors of the only comprehensive report to date covering the trade in Asia, similarly suspect that Taiwan may be on a par with South Korea.192

Over the past two years Taiwan has been scrutinized by CITES, the U.S. government, and the international community concerning the endangered species trade. Rather than heed advice to address the endangered species trade in earnest, COA officials have mounted a disgraceful propaganda campaign and resorted to various tactics to avoid responsibility for its own inaction. On the domestic front, representatives have cited prejudice and leveled other false accusations to rally the public against meddling foreign conservationists. International efforts include goodwill delegations sent abroad to minister to detractors and advertisements in the New York Times and other widely­p;distributed media touting Taiwan's conservation efforts.

All of this has done little for law enforcement. In spite of government claims to the contrary, enforcement has been greatly hindered by a policy that targets only traditional Chinese medicine dispensers of rhinoceros horn and tiger bone and uses the media to warn of heightened law enforcement efforts before and during the actual sweeps.

If the trade in bear gall bladder and other endangered species is to be earnestly addressed on Taiwan, rhetoric must be replaced by sound policy and a comprehensive approach to law enforcement. The government of Taiwan should take the following actions:

· Ursus americanus must be added to the WCL to close the loophole that presently prohibits prosecution for illegal importation of bear gall bladder. The North American black bear (Ursus americanus) was placed on Appendix II of CITES at COP8 in 1992, but Taiwanese legislation has yet to reflect this change.

A long­p;term policy concerning trade in bear gall bladder must also be devised and implemented. The use of Appendix I bear species in medicine, which is still legal in Taiwan, must be phased out.

Whether it is with the goal of phasing out trade over a several­p; year grace period or of seeking options to allow legal trade, a program for registering bears or bear parts must be initiated. Once COA places the North American black bear on Taiwan's WCL, the Department of Health, representatives from various traditional Chinese medicine societies, and local Taiwanese NGOs should all be involved in mapping out this policy.

· Taiwan has the resources to ferret out the middlemen, importers, wholesalers, and stockpilers at the top of the endangered species trade pyramid. Two law enforcement vehicles already exist: the MJIB and the WPU. If a concerted, long­p;term law enforcement program is implemented, events like the March 24, 1994, MJIB sweep can become the norm instead of the exception. Unfortunately, convincing policymakers of the importance of attacking the endangered species trade at higher levels-instead of focusing on the traditional Chinese medicine community-will not be easy.

The MJIB is sometimes not privy to information provided to the WPU from abroad. This is despite the fact that the MJIB is the most qualified agency to address international trade and related internal trade. It is extremely important that the MJIB receive information directly from South Africa's Endangered Species Protection Unit and other international trade monitoring and enforcement bodies.

· Taiwan's wildlife forensics experts can now differentiate bear gall bladders from those of other species of animals. However, the capability to distinguish between gall bladders of different bear species does not yet exist on the island. Until the North American black bear is added to Taiwan's WCL, laboratory analysis is the only hope for prosecuting illegal trade in bear parts. Information exchange with the United States and other countries should greatly improve Taiwan's ability to identify bear gall bladder by species.

· To its credit, the DOH held four meetings around the island in April 1994, explaining the ban on rhinoceros horn and tiger bone, and discussing substitutes for these products.193 The department is also researching substitute plants and animal parts for rhinoceros horn, tiger bone, and bear gall bladder.

The COA, the DOH, and other agencies should build on this effort and create a detailed plan to promote herbal alternatives for bear gall bladder and other endangered species products used in traditional pharmacopoeia. These agencies should create and distribute literature promoting the use and proven medical efficacy of alternatives to endangered species. More workshops should be conducted to introduce alternative medicines, explain policy, and forge a better relationship between traditional medicine practitioners and government. (Many pharmacists resent COA officials because they feel they have been unfairly singled out as the main culprits in the rhinoceros horn and tiger bone trade-a legitimate complaint on their part.) Medical research should also be funded by the government to document the efficacy of alternative medicines.

· At the regional level, Taiwan should seek increased cooperation and expertise in the areas of law enforcement, the creation and implementation of a policy concerning trade in bear gall bladder, and the exchange of knowledge concerning substitutes for bear gall bladder and other endangered species.

REFERENCES

EarthTrust

Windward Environmental Center
1118 Maunawili Road
Kailua, HI 96734 USA
(808) 261-5339

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