A CHINESE pharmaceutical company allowed more than 100 reporters yesterday to visit a farm where it breeds bears for their bile, amid protests from the public and animal welfare activists.

    At the bear farm of Guizhentang Pharmaceutical Co., based in the eastern province of Fujian, about 60 bears roamed outdoors. A farm worker said more than 600 bears are kept at the farm, some in the open and others in concrete bungalows covered with wire netting.

    In a demonstration of Guizhentang’s bile extraction process, a practitioner disinfected a surgical cut in the abdomen of a bear confined in a small cage. When he inserted an 8-centimeter tube into the cut, about 100 milliliters of bile flowed out. The practitioner removed the tube and disinfected the cut again.

    The whole process lasted about 30 seconds, during which the bear consumed liquid food and remained quiet. The farm had more than 100 cages used for extractions.

    Guizhentang has been under fire for a couple of weeks after it resumed plans for a public stock offering to raise funds for expanded bile production.

    Bear bile has been used for nearly 3,000 years as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) to cure eye and liver ailments.

    While members of the public and animal welfare advocates have called for eliminating bile extraction from live bears, some TCM experts have defended the industry, citing the “irreplaceable” medical value of bear bile. (Xinhua)

    (Photo Highlights on P8)