Laos has promised to close all bear bile farms and will be sending the bears to sanctuaries. They have also agreed to close tiger farms as well.
Great news! #Laos just promised at #CITES conference, to shut down ALL barbaric #bear & #tiger farms https://t.co/cLYSHAj5K6 Please share
— Mina*Bad Yoga KittyⓋ (@MinaANDMaya) September 27, 2016
Bear bile farms steal wild bears and pump them for their bile, which is then used in medicines. Bile bears are kept in small cages and receive painful bile extractions the rest of their lives. It has been proven that their bile has no medicinal value, but it continues to occur as a practice in many Southeast Asian countries.
Laos is a major breeding ground for these farms and it in close proximity to China, where this horrific treatment of bears is still legal.
“A combination of weak laws, poor enforcement and official complicity in Laos allows the illegal wildlife trade to openly flourish,” a 2015 report by the Environmental Investigation Agency said.
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