How Traditional Medicine is Causing Unnecessary Harm to Animals

Currently, there are 41,415 animal species on the IUCN Red List, a list of threatened animal species, and 16,306 of them are at risk of extinction. The appalling decline of the many animal species has several underlying causes such as hunting, climate change, or habitat destruction. However, one that is less commonly known is traditional medicine. Around the world, but especially in eastern Asia, people use animals as remedies that usually don’t have verified evidence behind their results. Despite the lack of scientific evidence, bears, rhinos, elephants, and many other species are being hunted to “cure” a multitude of illnesses. 

For example moon bears, a native bear in Asia, are held captive, mostly in China, for their bile. People think of bear bile as a panacea for a number of conditions—from acne to conjunctivitis to even cancer. Moon bears are kept in bear bile farms where they live in small cages with extremely poor living conditions. Catheters are painfully inserted into the stomachs of these bears, allowing the workers to extract bile from their gallbladders. 

Since moon bears are a critically endangered species, some countries, like Vietnam, have made this practice illegal. However, China still allows bile farming to happen, even though there have been countless protests by Chinese civilians. According to Animals Asia, it’s estimated that more than 10,000 bears are suffering on Chinese bear bile farms and a further 1,000 in Vietnam, even with the illegalization. 

The reason why bile is harvested from these bears is because they contain ursodeoxycholic acid, or UCDA. UCDA is found in bear bile and helps improve liver functioning, but there are better alternatives to get this acid. 

Alternatives include synthetic compounds or artificial bear bile. The specific compound that is found exclusively in bear bile is TUDC, which has been detected in the artificial counterpart. A scientific study, “Substitutes for Bear Bile for the Treatment of Liver Diseases: Research Progress and Future Perspective,” 

 revealed that artificial and natural bear bile show no significant difference in efficacy, and that the content and stability of the active compounds are even higher in the artificial version. However, the challenge is not producing an ethical alternative, but convincing those who partake in bear bile farming to abandon their traditional methods. 

Similar cases of abusing animals for medicinal or cosmetic uses are common in many species. Some examples include rhinos for their horns, alligators for their meat, and musk deer for their glands—all using cruel methods to obtain a medicine that is  based off of tradition rather than evidence. In the case of the musk deer, 17,000 to 20,000 musk deer stags in Russia are killed every year, placing them on the list of endangered animals. The most concerning part of these killings is that some are being killed solely for their sweet-smelling musk glands, which are then used for perfume. Traditional medicine may hold a certain degree of truth, but there are a wide range of alternatives that are much more humane and equally as effective. In order to alleviate the abuse and cruelty that animals have to go through for their body parts, we need to improve access to education. When people rely on traditional methods, it is likely that it is a result of not understanding that there are cruelty-free alternatives with the same, or better, effectiveness. Therefore, spreading awareness and educating others can be the most efficient way of slowing the use of traditional medicine. Fortunately, some business people in China are striving to save endangered species. For example, NatGeo states that they have started government-sanctioned bear and tiger farms as a way to prevent poaching of them in the wild. By showing support and giving donations to activists such as these, we can reduce the unnecessary suffering that these animals have to go through.