Why are black bears important to china?

Answer 1

They are important to the Chinese because they make money. The black bears of the region, nicknamed 'Moon Bears', are often used as a source for bile (produced by the liver but stored in the gall bladder). People and many animals have bile, but the Chinese and others who believe in this traditional/alternative medicine believe that bear bile has medicinal properties.

Originally, bears were hunted for their gall bladders but as bear populations declined and people around the globe protested this, some Chinese began to farm bile by keeping bears alive in cages and taking bile through a tube over time. The bile is taken through a tube surgically implanted through their abdomen, to keep the tube intact, the bears are kept in small cages. Because of the perceived inhumane from pain from the tube, the small cages, etc. many people protest this use. The process causes the bears much pain. There is actually footage of a moon bear trying to gnaw the bars off of the cage so it could escape. This caused the poor bear to loose all of its teeth and get incredibly painful sores and gum diseases. It's really sad.

Proponents believe that fewer wild bears are killed by farming bile because a live bear farmed for bile produces more bile over time than killing it. The demand is such that as more is produced, and the price goes down, more people buy it, so there is still a problem with poaching and killing wild bears.