For centuries, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cures have included animal body parts, such as rhinoceros horns, black bear bile or deer antlers. Recently, concerns over animal protection have become more common, and those who manufacture the ancient medicine are being pushed to make changes.
A recent report from the Ta Foundation, an animal rights NGO, which found that highly paid, well-educated people are the most likely to use, and oppose the use of, products made from controversial animal parts such as black bear bile, has reignited the perennial debate over the ancient system.
"The report showed that the major buyers of bear bile products work in the media, finance and medical sectors and most of them are young people, even though they are aware of the cruelty," said Zhang Xiaohai, executive secretary-general of the Ta Foundation.
The report found that about 77 percent of 1,892 respondents from 27 cities said "the cruel behavior should be stopped" while 21 percent were aware of the brutality of the extraction process but believe that there is no alternative way to collect the medicines.
Using the data to show that such TCM medicines are losing popularity, the NGO has demanded TCM companies stop producing these products.
In recent years, animal rights groups' criticisms of TCM companies have become louder and louder, urging the firms to stop using rare animals and plants in their products - a practice they regard as both cruel and destructive.
Some companies have started raising their own animals or growing their own herbs instead of taking them from the wild, so they can sell medicines that many people believe are beneficial without damaging the ecosystem. But activists are pushing for more.
Traditional view
Despite the controversy, products made from animals are not hard to find. A simple Baidu.com search returns thousands of results including "authentic deer antler and bear bile."
Fang Chiqiu, a Beijing resident, said he knows his landlord buys deer antlers from acquaintances. The landlord, a billionaire real estate developer, buys these materials and processes them himself into healthcare products and then eats the end result.
Ancient TCM texts describe a variety of animal parts as having medicinal qualities, including tiger bones, black bear bile and deer antlers, and explain how they should be used.
For example, Bencao Gangmu, a classical TCM text written by 16th Century herbalist Li Shizhen, describes tiger bones as being able to cure all sorts of aches and animal bites, and deer antlers as curing weakness, dizziness and fatigue.
Till this day, these animal parts are still regarded by many in China as the most effective way to defeat disease, despite - or perhaps because of - the steep price tag. A single gram of bear bile can be sold on the market for more than 100 yuan ($15).
TCM under fire
In recent years, the media and animal protection groups have pushed for a ban on trading and medical uses of these animal body parts.
One widely reported case is the consumption of the endangered devil ray. According to WildAid, an NGO based in San Francisco, over 90 percent of devil ray sales occur in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province. Conservationists believe this trade is threatening the very existence of the species.
Black bear bile is another topic that has garnered increasing attention in recent years due to its cruelty. In order to extract the bile, a metal tube is inserted into the bear's gallbladder, with the other end permanently and painfully sticking out of the bear's skin, dripping bile which is then collected.
Right now, there are more than 20 types of medicine that use black bear bile as an active ingredient.
The Ta Foundation's Zhang Xiaohai said beside the cruelty, the NGO also opposes the black bear bile medicines because it doesn't have the advertised effect. Besides, many of the bears treated this way are diseased and their bile can cause cancer.
A TCM doctor in Nanjing University Hospital in East China's Jiangsu Province told the Global Times that he doesn't think such ingredients are completely necessary for the development of TCM. In fact, some ingredients are overrated.
"There are many different kinds of traditional medicine, there is more than one ingredient that can treat a disease," he said.
But this point of view is not universal. Qiu Yingjie, secretary-general of the committee for the protection and exploitation of animals in medicine under the Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said such medicines have been used for a long time and have proven to be precious and effective.
