A Guizhentang employee is extracting bear bile via a permanently implanted tube.

Animal activists are mimicking bile extraction procedure in front of a Guizhentang retail store in Shenzhen.


A share listing plan by a company named Guizhentang that sells tonics made with bear bile has provoked a storm of criticism in China's online media from animal rights groups and celebrities

Seventy two well-known entertainers, writers and other celebrities signed a petition to the China Securities Regulatory Commission urging it to withhold approval for the initial public offering by Guizhentang, a Chinese medicines maker.

Hundreds of thousands of comments on "weibo", the Chinese counterpart of Twitter, blasted the company for extracting bile from the bears. A company spokesman contacted Friday refused comment and labelled activists as "well-fed people acting against the country".

Animal rights are gaining increasing attention in China. Animal Asia, an NGO aiming at ending bear farming industry in China, Vietnam and South/North Korea, said the unprecedented public outcry against bear farming has put them closer to meeting their goal than ever before.

Chinese senate has proposed a bill about animal protection and Chinese congressmen are going to introduce a matching legislation to finalize it. The Animal Protection Law of the People's Republic of China is currently at Experts's Draft Proposal phase. Hopefully bear farming and dog eating will be permanently banned in near future.


Actor Jackie Chan on bear bile farming

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Basketball player Yao Ming visits Animal Asia's bear rescue center located in Sichuan province.
His message at 1:08 was in Mandarin, which means:"Moon bears are beautiful animals in nature; let's love and care for moon bears together." "I am against bear farming and want it to end"

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The theme song of a documentary about moonbear rescue (in Chinese).




Memorial to Andew, the first moonbear rescued by Jill Robinson, founder of Animal Asia. Jill was born in UK and devoted herself to improving animal welfare in China and South Korea. Chinese netizen say her great work is the best advertisement for London 2012 Olympics.