Here in Chengdu, China, it is said that a daily dose of dried centipedes can cure lockjaw,
seizures, and convulsions.
All sorts of traditional Chinese medicines, like centipede, are readily available at this
wholesale market.
These women are sterilizing caterpillar fungus.
It's used as an aphrodisiac, or to treat cancer.
But some of the cures here are increasingly controversial, even in China, which has been
relying on medicines like these for centuries.
This is Jonah Kessel, reporting with Andrew Jacobs for The New York Times.
This woman is trying to sell us the gallbladder of a bear.
He wants $350 for it.
It's actually illegal to sell the whole gallbladder in China, but bear bile, extracted from the
animal's gallbladder, is legally farmed here.
It's commonly found in liquid and powder form, and used to treat liver diseases.
It's even being marketed as a hangover cure.
Well, the industry is getting bigger.
But on the other side, I would say the public awareness about bear farming is getting much
better.
Just a few miles down the road from the medicine market, Toby Zhang helps rehabilitate bears
who have been rescued from the bile farms.
This sanctuary, run by a Hong Kong-based organization called Animals Asia, is home
to more than 150 animals who are once milked for their bile.
They are kept in a small cage.
They cannot move properly.
They have joint problems.
They have bone problems.
And most importantly, they also have mental problems.
They are so stressed.
They are so frustrated.
So all these are very cruel to a bear.
And that's why we say, well, we want to end this industry.
Nicola Field, the bear and vet director at Animals Asia Sanctuary, has been monitoring
the effects of bear farming for seven years.
Estimates show there are 20,000 bears being farmed in China.
Some bears will never eliminate, for example, the extent of their stereotypic behavior.
We'll reduce it with everything we can give them here, in terms of the enclosure life
and the enrichment and the food and the stimulation that they receive from all those things and
living with the other bears.
But I think there's still things that will stay with them.
I'm sure there's still things that will stay with them in their memories.
The group is using tactics familiar to animal rights activists in other countries, tapping
into social media and releasing undercover videos like this, which show bears trapped
in small cages.
They take the gallbladder from the liver area and stretch it and put it closer to the muscle
of the abdomen muscle so that the farmer can always insert a catheter into the hole and
get into the gallbladder to collect the bear bowel.
Although the NGO has been around for nearly two decades, a recent increase in public support
shows a shift in attitudes towards animal rights in China.
Celebrities, including basketball star Yao Ming, or movie star Jackie Chan, have spoken
out against the practice.
No sunshine, no trees, no freedom, no relief.
The sanctuary invites people to see the bears in hopes of influencing opinions.
I think it's very cruel, because animals have their rights, and it's not right for us humans to hurt animals like this.
In Chinese culture, the bear gallbladder seems to be a medicine, but with the progress of the society,
even if you want to use reasonable means, don't use cruel means.
Like, for example, to insert the metal tube directly into their bodies.
I think it's very cruel.
For now, the practice of bear farming is on the rise in China.
It remains to be seen whether the surge in concern for animal rights will have a larger impact
on China's powerful pharmaceutical industry.
