About Animals Asia
Introduction
Animals Asia work tirelessly to end the brutal bear bile trade in China and Vietnam. Across these countries over 10,000 bears are trapped in tiny cages and plundered for their bile, sometimes for decades on end. The bile is used in traditional chinese medicine with the globalization of TCM driving an increase in demand.
Animals Asia have had a big impact, they’ve rescued over 619 bears and have award-winning sanctuaries in China and Vietnam.
In 2017, the NGO signed an exclusive agreement with the Vietnamese Government to end bear bile farming for good. This agreement will see all 800 bears still in cages relocated to rescue centres by 2022. Animals Asia is in charge of the momentous project, helping to upgrade existing sanctuaries and building new ones as funds become available.
Rescuing that number of bears is a massive commitment for any organisation, but with your support we can finally give them the freedom they deserve. They’ll live out their lives with sunshine on their backs and grass under their paws.
In the beginning
Animals Asia was founded in 1998 by Jill Robinson MBE after she exposed the horrors of bile farming that she witnessed on an undercover visit to a bile farm in China. What she revealed was shocking. The bears were kept in cages barely bigger than their bodies, they couldn’t stand up or even turn around. They were also in constant pain from the crude catheters implanted in their bellies to drain out the bile.
Not only is bile extraction painful and cruel, it’s completely unnecessary as there are countless herbal and synthetic alternatives with the same effect as bear bile.
On top of working to save these tortured bears, Animals Asia campaigns to end the dog and cat meat trade and to improve the welfare of captive wild animals.
Please help end the cruelty experienced by the Asiatic Moon Bear, and raise awareness regarding animal welfare across Asia.
Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus)