You’re helping combat the use of bear bile
19/10/2020
In China, you’ve so far helped move 160 doctors and five major companies to sign our "Wildlife-friendly Medicine" pledge not to profit from the wildlife trade.
By working closely with the medical influencers themselves, we are better placed to end the cruel bear bile industry.
Top image: iStock
The doctors signed the pledge following an online lecture hosted by Dr. Evan Sun, Bear and Wildlife Not Medicine Campaign Manager in China. Doctors are crucial to influencing consumer behaviour, which can better protect bears and other wild animals by reducing the market demand.
Based on our research, 83% of traditional medicine doctors would choose herbal medicines that are safer and more effective over medicines made from wild animals.
Thanks to your support we are planning two more lectures this year, aiming to raise medical practitioners' wildlife awareness and promote plant-based alternatives.
By working closely with the medical influencers themselves, we are better placed to end the cruel bear bile industry.
Sadly, substances like bear bile are found in traditional medicines. A synthetic alternative has been in development but public awareness is low and it’s not yet embraced by many Chinese companies, doctors and the general public. With your ongoing support, this is what we aim to change.
Further wins for wildlife
You also helped move five Chinese pharmaceutical companies to sign our wildlife-friendly medicine pledge. They’ve agreed to help protect wildlife by committing not to produce, nor sell, medicines or healthcare products containing wildlife ingredients and to promote herbal alternatives instead.
We’re expecting more companies to come on board in the coming months. This is a major win for animals like bears who suffer terribly when they’re farmed for their bile.
New website promotes humane plant-based alternatives
With your support, we’ve also launched a new online resource to encourage the substitution of wild animal-based traditional medicine with plant-based alternatives. It will help doctors and consumers to easily identify substitutes to remedies that contain wild animal parts.
The website is the first of its kind and will help curb the demand for wild animal products in TCM. These products drive the wildlife trade and have been associated with public health risks such as the current coronavirus pandemic.
To help bring an end to, not only the cruel bear bile industry, but also the exploitation of other wildlife species for food or medicine, we’ll highlight the link between diseases such as COVID-19 and wildlife.
Thank you for everything you do for bears and other vulnerable wild animals around the world.
