Hangover Remedy Puts Bounty on Black Bears

Among other things, bear bile is used to treat hangovers. You may not be recovering from your New Year's Eve party with a wine-bile concoction — and, according to recent survey by Animals Asia, 76 percent of traditional healers said their patients aren't using it either — but enough people do use this traditional Chinese remedy that thousands of bears across Asia endure extreme confinement, mutilation and painful procedures as they're farmed for their bile.

Even for those who practice traditional healing, bear bile isn't necessary. Animals Asia also learned of cases where bear bile poisoning resulted in the death of the patient. Jill Robinson, founder of Animals Asia, said, "No one will die from the lack of bear bile. Ironically, though, it seems people are now becoming sick and even dying from taking it."

Obviously, it's killing bears, too, and not just in Asia.

In the U.S., black bear poaching has been on the rise. In November, a young bear in Virginia's Prince William Park was found dumped, with his gallbladder missing. As bear populations in Asia dwindle, bears the U.S. become increasingly vulnerable to the black market demand for bile. Wildlife officials are investigating the crime, but there may not be much they can do about it.

While many Americans are critical of laws and enforcement around Asia that allow bear farming to continue, there are big gaps in our own laws. According to Born Free USA, five states have no laws against the sale of bear parts, eleven states allow interstate trade of parts, and several others have such a high burden of proof that, for instance, a poacher can't be convicted without DNA testing of the gallbladder. All this creates a patchwork of laws that Born Free USA calls "a wildlife law-enforcement nightmare."

And like most wildlife crimes, the penalties tend to be so weak that the payoff makes the risk worthwhile. A bear's gallbladder can sell for more than $3,000 on the black market. This puts a bounty on the heads of American black bears.

Last year, the Bear Protection Act (H.R. 3480) was again introduced to the House of Representatives. This bill would prohibit interstate and international trade in bear organs, including buying, selling, transporting or possession. It would also require the Secretary of the Interior to engage in international efforts to address the bear bile trade worldwide.

This bill has been passed by the Senate twice in recent years, but it keeps getting stalled in the House of Representatives because special interest groups, like the National Rifle Association, see it as an attack on hunting. But, as Born Free USA points out, "this is an issue not about sport hunting but about poaching and commercializing wildlife."

There are a lot of threats to our bears, like habitat loss and climate change, and killing them for their bile shouldn't be on the list. Ask your representative to make this the year that the U.S. takes a stand against the bear bile trade.

Photo credit: Jim Martin