But international experts say it remains a lucrative industry in China, where domestic sales of bear bile remain legal. “They’ve got massive hair loss, they’ve often got broken teeth from (biting the bars of their cages) in frustration and pain.”But eliminating bile farming has proved difficult. But China is “the biggest market for bear bile products by far,” with roughly 15,000 bile bears in captivity and plenty of demand, he said. Ursodeoxycholic acid, one of the main components in bear bile, has been medically proven to help dissolve gallstones and treat liver disease. And there’s no internationally recognized scientific evidence showing bear bile can cure other ailments promoted in TCM.

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Persons: Eve Sevim, Jill Robinson, “ They’ve, they’ve, Robinson, David Garshelis, aren’t, Garshelis, ” Robinson, ”, ” Garshelis, Tan, Qing, it’s Organizations: CNN, Animals Asia, International Union for Conservation, Nature’s, Bear Specialist Group, TCM, Animals, Forestry Administration, Farmers, China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration, State Forestry Administration, Bears, Getty, IUCN Locations: Haiphong, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Asia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hui'an, Animals Asia, Hanoi, “, Tam Dao, Hanoi –, Ma