Bears head CITES agenda
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1994:
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.––
China is expected to push to relax global
restrictions on traffic in bear parts at the
November 17-18 meeting of the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species,
to be held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The World Society for the Protection
of Animals prepared by hosting an internation-
al symposium on the medicinal uses of bear
matter in Seattle on September 10-11. Said
WSPA North American campaigns director
Wim de Kok, “The huge number of bears
being farmed in China,” estimated at more
than 10,000, “is like an alarm signaling the
threat to wild bears around the world,” since
poached bear parts can easily be relabeled to
indicate farm origin. “The continued captivity
of bears on farms only serves to fuel demand
for these products, and forces thousands of
bears to endure miserable lives,” de Kok
added. Many of the bears are connected to
tubes through which bile––believed by many
Asians to have medicinal properties––is
extracted from their stomachs. Other facilities
combine bear parts production with tourism.