Here you will find a descriptive and informative research agenda covering the main sources of my Advocacy Project. Each source entry is accompanied with a summary that includes the author's main argument and findings as well as details of the article, and its distinctive features.
Dr. Volker Deecke, an expert in evolutionary biology and animal biology, in his observational study article, “Tool-Use in the Brown Bear (Ursus Arctos),” published in 2012 by Animal Cognition, reports the first ever observed account of tool using behaviour in the bear specie. Dr. Deecke recounts his observation of tool-use by a wild North American brown bear in the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, in which the animal repeatedly picked up rocks in the water, and re- oriented them in its forepaws to rub its neck and muzzle. Based on the fact, that bears usually rub against stationary objects and overturn rocks while searching food, it can be deduced that this behavior most likely served to relieve irritated, itchy skin or to remove food-remains of a humpback whale carcass it was eating at the time. Despite, the extensive brown bear research in the wild, up to that point in time, there was little knowledge on bears’ cognitive abilities However, this rubbing behaviour with a freely movable object like a rock suggested the usage of tools and thus motivated for further research on the cognitive abilities of bears.
Cognitive psychologists and researchers, Jennifer Vonk and Michael Beran in their research article, “Bears ‘count’ too: quantity estimation and comparison in black bears, Ursus americanus,” published in 2012 by The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, provide a detailed experiment that found bears with numerical cognitive abilities like other primates. Vonk and Beran, trained three American black bears to discriminate between groups of dots on a touchscreen computer, where two bears learned to pick the group with fewer dots, while the third learned to choose the group with more dots. All three bears could use the number of dots to guide their choices, however the bear trained to pick groups with more dots performed better on its tests and could also discriminate with moving dots. This uncovers more cognitive abilities that have been ignored by research overall. Most importantly, the bears’ performance was equivalent those of primates in previous studies, indicating that bears have sophisticated cognitive abilities.
Published in the peer-reviewed journal, Animal Behaviour, the research article, “Understanding of object properties by sloth bears, Melursus ursinus ursinus,” was written by Federica Amici, Trix Cacchione, and Nereida Bueno-Guerra all psychologists and researchers interested in animal cognition. Within the article is outlined a thorough experiment with seven sloth bears, of both sexes, in which each took three tests that included measuring their object permanence, short term memory, and use of acoustic cues to infer food location. The results indicated the following: sloth bears understand that objects continue to exist even if not visible, they have difficulty locating food after delays of 30s, 60s and 2min, and with the presence or absence of acoustic cues they can infer food location. The researchers interpreted the results as influenced by evolution by stating that the foraging techniques and challenges lead to sloth bears’ good performance in the object permanence and acoustic cue tasks. In regards to the lower performance on the short-term memory test, the researchers justified this result by explaining how memory for “short-term punctual events,” is not of evolutionary importance for bears. The researchers also emphasized the importance of continuing to discover the great cognitive abilities within this specie that is considered understudied when compared to other wild animals.
Behavioural ecologist, Barbara Maas, current Head of International Species Conservation at NABU International- Foundation for Nature, in 2000 wrote an extensive review titled, “The veterinary, behavioural and welfare implications of bear farming in Asia,” sponsored by the World Society for the Protection of Animals. Her report provided a thorough assessment of the behavioural, veterinary and welfare issues associated with bile bear farming in Asia. The data collected was gathered from two independent surveys of 44 Asian bear bile farms, carried out during 15 months. Maas’s report presents acute and long-term stress effects on the bear health and welfare, and argues that the collective environmental challenges imposed by confined barren housing, poor hygiene and nutrition, improper surgery and veterinary care, early weaning and maternal separation exceed the animals’ adaptive limitations. Some of her specific findings included finding bears with sores, bone deformities, dental and breathing problems, and self-mutilation. The report concludes that bear farming for bile extraction poses a risk for the animal welfare and safety of bears. In other words, the article provides strong evidence that this practice should be abandoned.
Karl Malcolm, regional wildlife ecologist and researcher, in “Analyses of fecal and hair glucocorticoids to evaluate short- and long-term stress and recovery of Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) removed from bile farms in China”, published in General and Comparative Endocrinology, evaluates short-and-long term changes in activity of the hypothalamic- pituitary-adrenal (HPA) in bears to determine the stress status and later recovery in bears transitioning from captivity on bile farms to the Animals Asia Foundation China Bear Rescue Center (CBRC). The findings were made possible through a long-term collection of fecal and hair sampling, where samples were collected from 45 rescued bears (from both sexes), bile bear farms, and 7 euthanized bears that were included in the study to provide a biological validation based on the comparison of bears suffering from extreme illness. The results were that the hair samples of bile bear farms in China decreased in cortisol concentrations of 12–88% in 38 of 45 bears after arrival and acclimation at the rehabilitation facility. Most importantly, there was little difference in levels of glucocorticoids between euthanized bears and the two other tested sample groups (rescued and bile farm bears) which demonstrates that HPA activity is similar among bears that are chronically ill and those on bile farms. His research supports the fact that the conditions of bile bear farms threaten the health and welfare of bears, to the point that their HPA activity functions like bears who suffer from terminal or untreatable diseases.
Researcher and zoologist, Elizabeth Oneita Davis (hereafter Davis et al.), published in Biological Conservation, her study, “Understanding public perceptions and motivations around bear part use: A study in northern Laos of attitudes of Chinese tourists and Lao PDR nationals,” in which she details the results of surveys conducted as a preliminary investigation in northern Laos that analyzed the attitudinal, cultural and economic mechanisms behind bear bile consumption behaviors. The respondents included two groups, Chinese tourists and Lao visitors in Luang Prabang Province, in which they were specifically asked on the use of bear bile and bear parts. The results indicate a general substantial difference in attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge of bear part consumption between Lao and Chinese respondents. For instance, Chinese respondents were statistically far more likely than Lao respondents to believe that it is cruel to kill or injure bears, but less likely to hold feelings of affection towards bears. Based on these results, it was recommended the integration of educational programs with other strategies throughout Southeast Asia to increase awareness and understanding of the linkage between the decline in bear populations and the use of bear bile and other bear parts. Davis et al., stated the issue was that trade in bear bile is the leading factor in the decline of Asian bear populations, and hence the high demand could lead to the extinction of some bear species in the wild.
Sources for Ending Bear Bile Farming
-Gary Stevens
“Ending Bear Bile Farming in South Korea.”World Animal Protection, World Animal Protection , Mar. 2017. For more than 50 years, the World Animal Protection, an international non-profit animal welfare organization, has worked closely with governments, the United Nations, businesses, other animal welfare organizations for a better world for animals. In 2017, World Animal Protection published their paper, “Ending bear bile farming in South Korea,” summarizes one of its biggest accomplishments, South Korea completing one crucial step into ending the bear bile industry, the sterilization program. The formation of the Bear Sterilization Task Force Committee (comprised of the Bear Farmers Association, the Ministry of Environment, veterinarians, and academics) in 2014 was essential in ending bear bile farming in South Korea, because through their collaboration an eventual end to bear bile farming industry was in sight. As a result, the South Korean government was able to introduce in 2014, the sterilization program, which ensures that the current bears in bile farms in South Korea will be the last ones to suffer in captivity for their bile, while no new bears will enter the industry. Thus, the sterilization program is a major milestone in the ultimate end to the cruel industry, because at the time of sterilization, the DNA of each bear was collected, analyzed and registered on the database. Recording the DNA of each bear allows clear monitoring to prevent any illegal trade, trafficking, slaughter or breeding. The head of the campaign and member of World Animal Protection, Gilbert Sape states, “South Korea’s example lays down the gauntlet to other countries in Asia, and particularly to China. There is no excuse to continue to support this industry, especially when there are humane alternatives readily available.” The World Animal Protection, sets out a clear road for other governments to end the bear bile industry.
Established in 2000, Education for Nature - Vietnam (hereafter ENV) is Vietnam’s first non-governmental organization focused on the conservation of nature and the protection of the environment. One of the main issues ENV works on is bear bile farming. ENV has recognized that the demand for bear bile presents a critical threat to bears, that are hunted in the wild and sold live to commercial farms, where they are brutally exploited for their bile to meet consumer demand. After conducting two major baseline surveys, in 2009 and 2011, examining public attitudes toward the use of bear bile, ENV discovered that in order for an eventual end to the bear bile industry, major efforts should be focused on influencing public attitudes and behavior. Therefore, besides working with government and authorities to strengthen policy and legislation, and supporting enforcement efforts in the protection of this endangered specie, ENV employs creative and innovative strategies to combat this issue that include: investigating and monitoring, organizing various public awareness campaigns through different means of communication, working with bear farmers, managing awareness programs for young hotspot residents (e.g. middle schoolers), and promoting Vietnam National Bear Day. ENV understands the importance of reducing consumer demand as an essential part of any effort to successfully end bear farming and trade.
For the past 20 years, Animals Asia, founded by well-known animal rights advocate and veterinary, Jill Robinson, is dedicated to bring long-term change to animal cruelty in Asia. One of their major targets is to terminate the barbaric bear bile industry. While Animal Asia takes on solutions like building bear sanctuaries, reducing demand in the bile trade, creating public awareness, and influencing government and policy, they also encourage one to participate in ending bear bile farming. In “Five ways YOU can help end bear bile farming,” published in their website, Animal Asia offers five methods in which one can join the movement into stopping bears from being exploited for their bile. The strategies include: informing others in-person or through social media about the issue, forming a volunteer support group, organising an event (e.g. dinner party), staying up to date with issues and solutions to bear bile farming, and donating to help organizations that seek the welfare of bears.