HerbalEGram: Volume 10, Number 2, February 2013

Almost three years ago, HerbalGram published a lengthy, investigative feature story on the usage of endangered animal species in cultural systems of healing such as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).¹ Author and former HerbalGram Managing Editor Courtney Cavaliere presented alarming details on the killings and tortuous acts behind each vial of tiger bone wine or bowl of bear paw soup, and discussed the “challenging” strategy of substituting certain botanicals and other substances for the byproducts and body parts of these threatened animals.

During the years that have passed since Cavaliere’s exposé, some initiatives from nonprofit organizations and a few countries’ governments have made progress toward realizing the end of this heinous situation. But the outlook for most species, unfortunately, remains bleak and uncertain, as apparent in the December 2012 announcement by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that the illegal trade of wildlife has become the “fourth largest illegal global trade, after narcotics, counterfeiting, and human trafficking.”²


Tigers

Tigers most often are killed for their bones, which are used in various remedies, and other tiger parts also are used medicinally, including the blood, penis, tail, and eyes.¹ Although tiger-based tonics, wine, and other products are much less commonly used now than they were throughout their long history in TCM, the trade in illegal tiger parts continues and the challenges faced by these revered cat species remain serious.

In the years since Cavaliere’s HerbalGram piece, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has continued to classify tigers as endangered, as they have been since 1986.³ In late 2012, WWF discussed a recent study that indicated that tiger populations continue to decrease, and poaching for tiger body parts — most often destined for China — is their primary threat.^3,4 Wildlife conservation organizations like TRAFFIC put out press releases every few months documenting the seizure of tiger carcasses and body parts in countries like Thailand and Malaysia.⁵ Due to the decreasing tiger population, some news outlets are reporting that poachers are now substituting bones from the vulnerably classified lion.⁶

“There are an estimated 3,200 tigers left in the wild today and in most places where tigers live, the population remains in jeopardy,” said Barney Long, WWF’s Asian species expert (email, January 24, 2013). “Destinations for tiger parts differ based on the product. For example, there is demand coming from Chinese Tibet for skins and pelts; demand from China and Vietnam for tiger bone, etc. In recent years, the largest factor contributing to the illegal trade of tiger parts is their status symbol value in China and Vietnam, which is driving their use in tonic wines and as exotic meats.”

While efforts to prevent and punish those involved in the serious, organized crime of tiger poaching need to increase in tiger-populated countries, Long recognized that “more can be done to educate the public in demand countries, especially China and Vietnam, to stop using tiger products.”

Despite the less-than-encouraging statistics, significant efforts are being made by nonprofits and the governments of some countries. Although botanical alternatives to tiger remedies have been identified and encouraged in the past, most current efforts focus on enhancing law enforcement against poaching activities as well as repopulating wild tiger populations. In November 2010, representatives from 13 countries gathered in Russia for the first annual Tiger Summit and adopted a Global Tiger Recovery Program that seeks to increase the wild tiger population to approximately 6,000 by the year 2022.³ More recently, in January 2013, India and Nepal announced that they would join with WWF in conducting a joint survey on tiger populations in their countries.⁷ China, meanwhile, is working to reintroduce prey animals, such as deer, to areas where wild tigers roam, and Russia, home to a large population of wild tigers, is considering national legislation that would classify the trade, transportation, and possession — not just the killing — of endangered species as serious crimes.


Bears

Because bear bile contains high levels of the anti-inflammatory compound ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), it has been used medicinally for many years, especially in TCM.¹ Due to increased awareness of the cruel way in which bile is harvested from the gallbladders of live bears — who are often kept in inhumane conditions on overcrowded and filthy bear farms — its usage in TCM has decreased somewhat. Unfortunately, bear bile is increasingly being sold for non-scientific and non-traditional indications, in addition to being given as an expensive gift to represent wealth or status.






















“Bear bile, historically, has been used in limited amounts for specific diseases and illnesses and nothing could be further from the truth of how it’s exploited and sold today,” said Jill Robinson, founder and CEO of Animals Asia, an animal welfare organization (oral communication, January 27, 2013). “In Vietnam, for example, we’ve been picking up bile that originated in China and is being sold as hangover cures. It’s also being sold in wines and tonics and, despite the fact that every farmed and extracted bear has contaminated bile, it continues to be ingested by people who are persuaded by the farmers that it can cure a multitude of ills.”

Still, the situation for bears, according to Robinson, is improving.

“The last year, especially, has been absolutely phenomenal, both in China and Vietnam,” said Robinson. “Vietnam … has seen some quite interesting developments in that the official government figure there has reduced the number of bears, from an estimated 4,000 on the farms to about 2,400. So the numbers are coming down on the farms and that gives us a lot of confidence in the work that we’re doing.”

As further encouraging news, in January 2013, Animals Asia won its fight against a pending eviction from the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre, which is home to many bears that the organization saves from farms and confiscates from the chain of illegal trade. Animals Asia had received the eviction notice in October 2012, allegedly because the park director wanted to approve an application to turn the land in Tam Dao National Park into a tourist destination with hotels. Animals Asia organized an online appeal to Vietnam’s prime minister, who subsequently decided to side with the bears and the project agreement he originally had signed, allowing the group to continue its work at the rescue center.

Although several recent developments in Vietnam stand as positive indicators for the movement to end bear bile farming, Robinson recognized that the number of farmed bears in China is increasing. “China is at the heart of this industry, there is no question about it,” she said.

The Chinese public, however, is learning more about the bear bile trade and the cruelties it perpetrates on these animals, and is also speaking out against it with increasing frequency. According to Robinson, “bear farming” was one of the top 10 most-discussed topics in China in 2012, and at one point was the second most-searched term on the Internet. One probable reason behind the increased interest in the bear farming issue is that one Chinese bear farm recently sought to become a publicly traded company on the stock market, which led to a “purging of information” on the practice, as Robinson described it. And more and more celebrities are endorsing the anti-bear-farming cause, she said, in addition to a new documentary film that went viral in China.

“What we’ve seen in China in the last year is unprecedented outrage across the country,” said Robinson. “I’ve never seen anything like this in 20 years of campaigning against bear farming. And it gives us a lot of confidence that we’re turning a corner.”

Animals Asia recently launched its “Healing Without Harm” campaign, which has successfully convinced about 140 TCM pharmacies to stop selling, stocking, and prescribing bear bile. In the next year, the organization will continue to focus on these efforts, and is expecting more pharmacies, including some large chain businesses, to join in taking the pledge. Additionally, Professor Yibin Feng of the University of Hong Kong — who conducted research in 2009 on botanicals to replace bear bile — will soon be disseminating informational documents on the medicinal efficacy of Coptis spp., an antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hypertensive herb that is a promising alternative to bear bile.


Rhinos

For thousands of years, the keratin-rich horn of the rhino has been a common TCM treatment for numerous conditions, including fever, convulsions, and hemorrhaging.¹ In the 1990s, due to the drastically decimated wild rhino populations, alternatives to rhino horn were encouraged. Poaching of rhinos has only increased, however. The South African government announced that poachers killed a record 668 rhinos in 2012, 50 percent more than the 448 rhinos killed in 2011 and significantly more than the 13 rhinos killed in 2007.⁸ Five rhinos already had been killed in the first 10 days of the New Year. Rhino poaching also has increased in other African countries, such as Kenya, as well as in some parts of India — where officials estimate one average-sized horn yields $90,000 to $100,000.⁹

“We’re dismayed, obviously; we’re very upset,” said Susie Ellis, executive director of the International Rhino Foundation (IRF). “Again, the root cause is essentially the same and the primary reason behind it seems to be that there is an emerging market in Vietnam, where rhino horn is purported to be a cancer cure. But it is also emerging as a high-value gift that people give one another. It’s not used decoratively; it’s just used for medicinal purposes. It’s also being used as a hangover cure in Vietnam. These are new uses" (oral communication, January 23, 2013).

Ellis noted that the demand for rhino horn also is present in China, where she said the use of it is ongoing and not showing signs of decreasing. Ellis purported that the current Asian demand partly stems from the increasing Asian presence in Africa.

“Chinese companies, for example, [are] being awarded road contracts and mining contracts and construction/infrastructure contracts [in Africa],” she said. “With the influx of the workers, and because the Asian companies also often bring in their own labor, the organized crime syndicates in Asia have also come in.”

Perhaps a greater cause behind the demand, Ellis continued, is the strong cultural belief in these remedies in Vietnam, China, and other Asian countries, where rhino horn is available for sale whole over the counter and ground-up in prepared remedies. For this reason, IRF and other groups are planning to implement a public education campaign in Vietnam that informs the public that these remedies are baseless and have no scientific support. Additional conservation and wildlife groups have been trying to quell poaching through the dispersion of a similar message. The theme of 2011’s World Rhino Day, for example, was “Rhino Horn is not medicine.”

“Many of us are working this year and hopefully the next two years to implement a campaign with the basic message that using rhino horn is not cool,” said Ellis. “Because it’s appears to be a trendy consumption among younger, affluent Vietnamese.”

Ellis also noted the importance of educating the public that real animals are being killed.

“There’s not much wildlife left in Vietnam, for example, and I’m not sure that the end-user always knows that [the remedy] even comes from a live animal that was killed,” she said. “The majority of rhinos are killed with AK-47s. Some of the more sophisticated poachers are coming in and — obviously have the involvement of veterinarians — with helicopters and are darting the animals with drugs. But, by and large, they’re so interested in getting every single shred of horn that they hack down into the animal’s skull. They bleed to death; they die from trauma and shock. Occasionally they live, but only one or two actually survived more than a few days.”

Unfortunately, Ellis recognized how difficult it is to address the deep, cultural root of the problem, which is why her organization and others largely focus on deterring and preventing poaching, as well encouraging local authorities to punish those involved with poaching. While arrests of rhino horn smugglers have increased somewhat in recent years, it apparently has not been enough to curb the crime, and in December 2012 South Africa and Vietnam signed an agreement on how the two countries would cooperate to better deal with the situation. TRAFFIC commended the memorandum of understanding, noting in a press release that although the terms were general, “there are clear indications that rhino horn trafficking will be top of the new agenda on co-operation between the two nations.”¹⁰


Future Outlook

Offering hope for the future of these beloved animal species is the gradually increasing presence and awareness that illegal wildlife trafficking is obtaining among charity groups, the media, and public and government officials, including Britain’s Prince Philip — Queen Elizabeth’s husband, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh — who in January announced his plans to meet with Chinese officials to discuss the use of endangered animals in TCM.¹¹  

Robinson of Animals Asia emphasized the important role that the public has to play, especially by contacting relevant authorities, as well as the media in the United States and in China.

“Please, please to anyone reading [this] article that is remotely interested and wants to help,” she said, “don’t underestimate the power of your pen and how much you can help. Please, please, keep raising it.”

1. Cavaliere C. Medicinal use of threatened animal species and the search for botanical alternatives. HerbalGram. 2010;86:34-49. Available here.

2. Illegal wildlife trade threatens national security, says WWF report [press release]. New York, NY: World Wildlife Fund; December 12, 2012. Available here. Accessed January 18, 2013. 

3. Panthera tigris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. Available here. Accessed November 26, 2012. 

4. Poaching still biggest threat to recovery of world’s tiger populations. World Wildlife Fund website. November 23, 2012. Available here. Accessed January 18, 2013. 

5. Latest news from TRAFFIC: entries in mammals – tigers (57). TRAFFIC website. Available here. Accessed January 29, 2013. 

6. Evans B. West African lion virtually extinct: population numbers are dangerously low with just 34 left in Nigeria. Daily Mail. January 9, 2013. Available here.

7. News about tigers and our fight to increase their numbers. World Wildlife Fund website. Available here. Accessed January 29, 2013. 

8. Rhino poaching toll reaches new high [press release]. Cape Town, South Africa: TRAFFIC; January 10, 2013. Available here. Accessed January 11, 2013.   

9. Bhaumik S. Spike in rhinoceros deaths worries India. December 15, 2012. Available here. Accessed January 29, 2013.  

10. New agreement between South African and Viet Nam – a turning point in tackling rhino poaching crisis, say WWF, TRAFFIC [press release]. Ha Noi, Vietnam: TRAFFIC. December 10, 2012. Available here. Accessed January 29, 2013. 

11. Nikkhah R. Duke of Edinburgh hosts talks with on threat to wildlife posed by traditional Chinese medicine. Telegraph. January 13, 2013. Available here.