http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bile_bear
fuck..
i’m sorry for the contentless op but, just.. what the hell?
There is no concept of animal rights in China or indeed in most of the non-Western world. This is not intended to be some kind of slur against those places, just a statement of fact. Animals are to be used by humans and every bit of their possible value to humans is to be extracted, without any regard for the “feelings” of the animal - and it’s not because they’re cold psychopaths, it’s because they simply don’t have the concept of an animal having “feelings.”
The Wiki article says it’s for traditional Chinese medicine.
In all likelyhood totally worthess so fuck 'em.
I really want to know who the first guy was who said, “Let’s milk a bear! We’ll make millions.” Tiger penises, OK, I can kind of see that. But bear bile?
This also explains why sharks will have their fins removed and then unceremoniously dumped back in the ocean to die. In this case, neither feelings nor conservation come into play. We humans are a stupid species who are going to destroy our home. I just hope it is not in my nor my children’s lifetime.
In Russia, bears milk you!
In this particular case it looks like the active ingredient, UDCA, has some actual medical use. Of course, it is now possible to make it synthetically or concentrate it from other mammals killed for food purposes, so the bear farming is still a crock of senseless torture.
I am sorry I followed that link. I am certainly going cut back on my Bear Bile consumption after reading that.
Alright, more for me.
If you follow what I’d presume to be their line of reasoning for ingesting some element of the bear in the first place, that they’re strong, dominant creatures and that strength can be transferred, then even that would be lost in a production process that reduces the animals to little more than ill, mentally deranged, diseased carcasses in a filthy environment.
A despicable practice in which neither the host nor the parasite benefits.
Well, animal suffering is visible, it doesn’t require a “concept.” Some sort of systematic blind spot is involved, but it’s not as simple nor as innocent as a complete inability to form the concept. Besides, Westerners have told them. Once you’re told something, you can’t claim it never occurred to you. “Don’t fucking care,” sure, but not “My God, it never occurred to me!”
Ah, sympathetic magic.
Bullshit like this is why when I have a skeptical reflex when I hear the phrase “Eastern medicine”.
I’ll just offer the same suggestion I had for combating the harvesting of rhino horn - flood the market with expensive fakes.
Hey, how strong and dominant can they be, if they have ended up in a cage with someone milking their bile? 
China probably sat the same about our lack of universal health care.
Are you suggesting China has universal healthcare? Ha, ha, ha! You’re funny.
Way to go to ruin my weak point to begin with.
I always wondered why Bear Gall Bladder was so valuable in traditiobnal medicine.
I assume it is exactly because it is so difficult to obtain, and so sounds impressive.
Every so often someone in Alaska is arrested for killing bears solely for the gall bladders, which they sell to Asian buyers. It’s repellant to me, but many people up there have the attitude of: it’s just an animal, so what.
What they didn’t tell you, was that Bear Bile, along with people, is one of the most important ingredients in Soylent Green.