{"id":187,"date":"2010-07-01T14:22:51","date_gmt":"2010-07-01T04:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=187"},"modified":"2010-07-01T14:45:37","modified_gmt":"2010-07-01T04:45:37","slug":"clinical-zoo-setting-free-the-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=187","title":{"rendered":"Clinical Zoo: Setting free the bears"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\n\r\n\"\"<\/a>Rescuing Moon bears from China\u2019s infamous bile farms was always going to be a harrowing experience. Whichever way you look at it the practice of bile farming is brutal and inhumane. But Animal\u2019s Asia senior veterinarian Heather Bacon is hopeful for the future of the bears \u2013 and wouldn\u2019t trade her position for the world.\r\n\r\nThe Animals Asia Foundation is a Hong Kong-based animal welfare charity founded by Jill Robinson in 1998. While it runs a broad range of animal welfare programs, the most prominent is the rescue and rehabilitation of Asiatic black bears (Ursus selenarctos<\/em>) which are farmed for their bile. Asiatic black bears, also known as Moon bears, are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Appendix 1, the most critical category of endangerment. There may be as few as 16,000 in the wild \u2013 but it is estimated that up to 7000 are kept in bile farms in China alone.\"\"\r\n\r\nThe bears can live up to 35 years. Many spend 10 to 20 years on bile farms before dying of chronic infection or related complications.\r\n\r\nBear bile is used to treat a swag of ailments in traditional Chinese medicine, although cheap and effective herbal alternatives have been available for years. Despite warnings by doctors and prominent traditional Chinese medicine practitioners against the consumption of inevitably pus contaminated bile from chronically ill bears, a market for bear bile remains.\r\n\r\nAs head of the veterinary department, Bacon oversees veterinary and bear-keeping staff in both China and Vietnam. She ensures the health and happiness of rescued bears, housed in Animals Asia\u2019s Chengdu sanctuary, carrying out regular routine checks and investigating health problems that arise. Bacon also takes part in organised bear rescues.\r\n\r\nOne of the unexpected and most rewarding aspects of her job is the high clinical and surgical case load, a rarity in wildlife medicine.\r\n\r\n\u201cI came out here on a one year contract,\u201d Bacon said. \u201cEveryone working with the bears is wonderful, we encounter medical and surgical challenges you might come across in referral small animal practice, and I feel like every working day I am learning. We get a lot of support from visiting specialists, so from a professional point of view this is a really satisfying place to work.\u201d\r\n\r\nBacon completed a degree in Conservation Medicine before graduating from Bristol University with her veterinary degree in 2005. She joined Animals Asia after working with a range of domestic zoo and wildlife species in the UK and Africa.\r\n\r\nAccording to Bacon, there are five well known methods of bile extraction used on China\u2019s bear farms. Animals Asia\u2019s veterinary team has encountered bears subjected to each one of them. The first involves implantation of a latex catheter through the abdominal wall into the gall bladder. This allows 50-100ml of bile to be tapped from each bear daily, but it is liable to clogging.\r\n\r\nA second method employs a stiffer rubber pipe connect to a collection bag which is held in place in a metal box. The box in turn is held in position under the abdomen by a metal jacket, usually weighing more than 10kg. Bile is collected from the bag every few weeks.\r\n\r\nThe third method involves surgical implantation of a metal catheter into the gall bladder to facilitate daily milking of bile. This is often achieved by placing the bear in a crush cage so that farmers can collect bile from underneath the bars.\r\n\r\nThe fourth and so called \u201chumane\u201d method involves creating a permanent fistula through the abdominal wall into the gall bladder. This is known as the free-drip method as bile drips freely from the infected fistula. According to Animals Asia, almost 30 per cent of rescued free-drip bears have abdominal abscesses and most have pus in their bile. This method is actually approved by the Government.\r\n\r\nThe fifth is a modification of the former method, known as the fake free drip. As the fistula naturally and persistently tries to heal, farmers insert a Perspex catheter which is cut to be flush with the surface of the abdomen so that the catheter \u2013 which is illegal under current regulations \u2013 is barely visible.\r\n\r\nBacon explained that the surgery itself is often carried out by farmers rather than trained veterinarians.\r\n\r\n\u201cThere is a high mortality rate and virtually no sterility in these procedures,\u201d she said.\r\n\r\nAs a result, most rescued bears are extremely compromised and many are euthansed.\r\n\r\nThose that survive often have severe illness, although they are very stoic creatures.\r\n\r\n\"\"<\/a>\u201cWe\u2019ve treated bears with liver tumours weighing in the order of 7kg yet they are still eating,\u201d Bacon said. \u201cI treated another bear with 8 litres of pleural effusion that appeared to be breathing normally and showing no clinical signs.\u201d\r\n\r\nAll rescued bears require cholecystectomies.\r\n\r\n\u201cThere are always a lot of adhesions and a lot of fibrosis due to prior surgeries,\u201d she said. \u201cThe gall bladders of these bears are very thick.\u201d\r\n\r\nCommon complications of bile farming include cholecystitis, peritonitis, hepatic neoplasia and hernias.\r\n\r\n\u201cThey get these because infection just rots the abdominal musculature.\u201d\r\n\r\nSuperinfections can occur if bile farmers use antibiotics.\r\n\r\n\u201cAll of these bears are chronically infected and infection makes them produce less bile,\u201d Bacon said. \u201cThe problem is that often inappropriate antibiotics or inappropriate doses are used, which can generate antibiotic resistant infections.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe most common concurrent condition is severe musculoskeletal and degenerative joint disease, exacerbated by prolonged confinement in metal cages.\r\n\r\n\u201cBefore we perform a cholecystectomy we have to determine whether we can rehabilitate a bear. They are very recoverable \u2013 once we get them moving around and feed them a decent diet their quality of life is excellent. But if they have severe spinal disease it may not be possible.\u201d\r\n\r\nGiven the traumatic lives of these bears it is hardly surprising that many exhibit profound fear aggression.\r\n\r\n\u201c[Initially] they will often try to attack you because they think you are approaching them to extract bile,\u201d Bacon said. \u201cThere is a lot of effort put into building a rapport with these bears.\u201d\r\n\r\nNonetheless, all of the bears are eventually trained to stand on a weigh plate and can be crate trained.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe fact that these bears will voluntarily enter a crate says a lot about the way they are cared for in our sanctuaries,\u201d Bacon said.\r\n\r\nBut the transition is harder for some bears. One bear, rescued as a six-month-old cub following a traumatic separation from her mother, is currently being treated with a new prescription medication that has been trialled in dogs with fear aggression.\r\n\r\nBacon\u2019s job can be emotionally draining. None of the rescued bears are in good physical condition and all have experienced severe prolonged confinement, pain and trauma.\r\n\r\n\u201cYou have to develop a thick skin and if you think about the numbers of bears on farms it does grind you down. But when I see bears that we have rescued and rehabilitated it is just unimaginably rewarding.\u201d\r\n\r\nBacon is critical of those who blame Chinese culture for the ongoing existence of bile farming.\r\n\r\n\u201cSome people say that the Chinese don\u2019t care about animals but that is not the case. We have 150 Chinese staff who are completely dedicated to the animals in their care. There are an awful lot of locals campaigning to stop bile farming.\u201d\r\n\r\nBacon hopes that the team\u2019s research will help improve the welfare of bears worldwide. One widespread belief they have successfully challenged is that removal of diseased canine teeth may prevent captive bears from establishing a hierarchy.\r\n\r\n\u201cOften we need to remove damaged canine teeth as they can get an osteomyelitis of the jaw,\u201d she said. \u201cWe did a behavioural study last year and found that there was no detrimental effect to removing the canine teeth and in fact there may be a decline in stereotypy suggesting chronic dental infection is a significant source of pain in these animals.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWe have been given a donation of omega-3 supplements so we\u2019re going to be evaluating pre and post treatment mobility and skin condition to see if that benefits the bears,\u201d she said.\r\n\r\nDue to time constraints it has been difficult for the team to publish their rapidly accumulating knowledge about bears \u2013 but that is also changing. Bacon has collaborated on a paper on bear bile farming in the forthcoming International Zoo Year book. Further knowledge is expected to be gleaned by histopathological evaluation of post mortem samples from 70 bears.\r\n\r\nAs well as treating and rescuing bears, Bacon is involved in Animal Asia\u2019s small animal clinic, and associated awareness programs like Dog and Professor Paws. She trains dozens of veterinary nurses and veterinary students who volunteer with Animals Asia.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe are very supportive of biological sciences and veterinary students who want to come over here and do a research project, and we have a lot of nurses who care for bears pre and post-operatively or assist in local dog outreach programs as well.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cOne of the biggest challenges I find is managing people\u2019s expectations,\u201d Bacon said. \u201cThis is not something that will stop happening tomorrow. Ending the trade in bear trading and bear bile farming is a long-term goal. We have to keep at it, not be disheartened, and realised that every time we rescue a bear we\u2019ve made a huge difference to that animal.\u201d\r\n\r\nFor more information about Animals Asia, visit\u00a0www.animalsasia.org<\/a>\r\n\r\nAnne Fawcett<\/strong>\r\n\r\nPictures Ali Bullock, Animals Asia\r\n\r\nThis article originally appeared in <\/em>The Veterinarian magazine, May 2010 edition.<\/em>\r\n\r\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rescuing Moon bears from China\u2019s infamous bile farms was always going to be a harrowing experience. Whichever way you look at it the practice of bile farming is brutal and inhumane. But Animal\u2019s Asia senior veterinarian Heather Bacon is hopeful for the future of the bears \u2013 and wouldn\u2019t trade her position for the world. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[35,30,32,36,34,31,1797,37,33],"class_list":["post-187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-clinical-zoo","tag-animals-asia","tag-anne-fawcett","tag-bears","tag-bile-farms","tag-charity","tag-china","tag-clinical-zoo","tag-may-2010","tag-rescue"],"rise-blocks_total_comments":0,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":29,"name":"Clinical Zoo","slug":"clinical-zoo","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":29,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":13,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":29,"category_count":13,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Clinical Zoo","category_nicename":"clinical-zoo","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"Rescuing Moon bears from China\u2019s infamous bile farms was always going to be a harrowing experience. Whichever way you look at it the practice of bile farming is brutal and inhumane. But Animal\u2019s Asia senior veterinarian Heather Bacon is hopeful for the future of the bears \u2013 and wouldn\u2019t trade her position for the world. The Animals Asia Foundation is..","blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"29":{"name":"Clinical Zoo","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?cat=29"}},"tags_names":{"35":{"name":"Animals Asia","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=animals-asia"},"30":{"name":"Anne Fawcett","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=anne-fawcett"},"32":{"name":"bears","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=bears"},"36":{"name":"bile farms","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=bile-farms"},"34":{"name":"charity","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=charity"},"31":{"name":"China","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=china"},"1797":{"name":"Clinical Zoo","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=clinical-zoo"},"37":{"name":"May 2010","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=may-2010"},"33":{"name":"rescue","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=rescue"}},"comments_number":"0","wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=187"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions\/207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}