ATTENTION:

Undoubtedly, the above news have some connection with the main theme of our website. But why these news are represented right here – on the page, dedicated to protection of the Asian black (or the moon-) bear winter tree-dens? – this question must arise in the thoughtful mind of our reader.

Our answer is:

because offenders from the above message inflicted a new set of impacts on our interests!

First of all, pay attention to what data are mentioned in the messages: March, April... Under the normal circumstances, at these spring months most of the bears are still “sleeping” in their tree-dens. Normally, they “sleep” (or, to be exact - hibernate) till late April – i. e. till the first green grass appears on the slopes of mountains. Count the fact that offenders had to spend some time for accumulation of the bear cubs in their apartments and you’ll have a whole picture of the complex criminal act, including: 1) violence against sentient beings - bears, with purpose of gaining money 2) smuggling, and 3) destruction of the bear habitat – i. e. of the critically important winter tree-dens – these maternity units of the Himalayan bears*.

_______________________________
*Perhaps, you already know (otherwise, welcome to learn it from our papers: hb_text_photos_engl.html, and dens_engl.html) that it is almost impossible to get a moonbear in winter time without destruction of its unique tree-den.

___________________________________
Unfortunately, the above mentioned criminal acts are just a pair of examples of what is really going on in our country. The existing winter poaching problem influencing moonbears in Russia very seriously. Governmental structures, though (to some extent) care of wild animals, care only of the survival of the particular species, while the conditions, in which the individual representatives of a “lucky protected” species live, are being neglected. Situation with the moonbears is of this sort – the species is slightly protected, while the conditions, under which the individual animals live, are sometimes even worse than death. Well, this species level approach to conservation is a worldwide problem. People with a bit hard hearts think of survival of animals only for their own benefit. From viewpoint of such people, only animal numbers are important, while happiness of the individuals is irrelevant.

Just a couple of years ago most bear hunters in Primorye were looking for adults. Cubs were always a headache for them (cubs were, as a rule, anonymously abandoned at doors of the local State Reserves, Forestry- and Game offices etc. The new shameful practice of smuggling cubs to China was added to the traditional ones relatively recently.

What are the tiny cubs used for in China? How do Chinese people deal with the bear paws? Why both Russian and Chinese citizens have the courage to walk this criminal path of violence and smuggling? – this is the next wave of your questions, as we expect. Lets get deeper into details.

The roots of a cub problem are in the bear bile. Cubs are being brought to China, where they are then being grown up in captivity for the bile-“milking”. An elder generation of the Primorye people knows that the bear bile is implemented for curing the stomach ulcers and the similar diseases. According to Jill Robinson, Animals Asia Foundation (www.animalsasia.org) (see her paper: “The Suffering of Bears Part II”, published on www.mayway.com - http://www.mayway.com/store/herbal_news_farms.jsp), a bear bile juice is used predominantly as a ''heat reducing'' component in the traditional medicine across Asia. Thousands of bears are being killed each year throughout the world because of their bile.

Of course, many consumers of a bear bile are indeed cured. But, on the other hand – many just waste their money. The Chinese traders would through on the markets not just a bear bile paste, powders etc., but even a bear-bile containing shampoos and wines. Imagine a thousands of customers, which hope to grow a new hair with a “magic” shampoos. These poor people are simply hypnotized by the traders' tales. While some people just loose their money thanks to lie of those, who only think of their own prosperity and do not care of others, many animal species are being put in a really harsh conditions. Some nearly extinct. As for the China, one of the most famous and tragic example of such lie are the tails about the tiger. Last individuals of a species are now fight to survive in the Chinese forests: this is result of a big work, done by distributors of tales, such as “a man, which consumes an infusion based on the tiger body parts, becomes able to make love with his beloved one continuously, for a long, long time...” Obviously, the authors of this tale knew not much about the tiger's life. In fact, as known by scientists, the sexual act of these animals continues normally for only… a couple of minutes.

Of course, superstitious beliefs are being supported with the only purpose – to make rich their supporters. And the price here is suffering of both animals and the naiv two-legged consumers. Definitely, tails of this type have nothing to do with the ancient eastern art of medicine, based on the principle of harmony of Man with all beings.

Fortunately, even in our not a simple one time, the real doctors – experts in the secrets of Mother nature – are still occur in China. These people know at least 54 (!!!) sorts of plants, which can successfully replace the bear bile in curing. But today their advises are not valued by majority. The row customer prefers to jump on all the bright and remarkable things, exploring them in details either later of even never at all. Thus, comparing to the medicine with a loud name: “A BEAR BILE”, the plant-alternatives are far less popular today.

The problem here is not in some special kind of “Chinese” psychology, no. Honestly spoken, people of nowadays are surprisingly naiv, not depending on the nationality and/or place of livelihood. There is an amazing contrast between the level of technological development and the level of the development of men. The secret here is perhaps in the fact that complex machines and computers are being made by majority on the basis of knowledge, obtained by hard work of a few individuals. On the other hand, many sorts of a complex apparatus are constructed with use of information and experience, accumulated by a large communities, including the prior generations. Today, a vast majority of people knows literally nothing about such basics of life like karma, reincarnation, evolution of consciousness and the like. This explains why most of us act like if the interests of the Homo sapiens, as a species, were far above the interests of all other species of the Earth. The majority simply doesn’t understand that all of us are one family, that we all depend on each other, and that each and every act of a person reflects some day on him/herself. Regarding the last circumstance, let us think of the following observations from our own daily life: one person is, say - entering a building just a moment before iit gets exploded. This person dies respectively. Contrary, the other sample person unexpectedly wins a 10 000 USD in the mere lottery. Of course, all would call the first one person - unlucky man, while the second one – a lucky one man. But, in fact, nothings happens for the reason of someone’s “luck”. Even a tiniest pain, as well as a smallest joy, which we cause others, some day surely returns back to ourselves in either this or another form.

Thus, each of us must look for, test and apply in daily life only such ways of curing, feeding and protecting our own bodies from coldness etc. which aren’t connected with hurting other beings, no matter to what species last belong. And, only if there is no other way, then, may be… - But this strategy – at least regarding the animals – is being practiced by almost none today. Should one worry about few thousands customers of a bear bile, when billions eat both meat and fish, thus supporting a huge industry of violence throughout a world! (Perhaps, there is nothing wrong in eating animals when there is no choice, but we speak here of those billions citizens of so-called civilized countries, which have their choice, but just don’t think of it.. Because they don’t care of other being’s pain).

Similarly, the diseases. All of them are developing in one’s body due to one’s own wrong acts and regime. Sometimes this process of development continues for years, sometimes – for just a couple days. The diseases are the each and every person’s own fault, but for his own healing Man uses animal parts as medicine, thus forcing other beings to suffer and die.

Well, there were a times, when the majority in the United Sates believed that it isn’t too bad to sometimes abuse, and/or even kill the man of black skin. For many years, many people of this country believed that the African race men aren’t in reality a sentient beings, deserving respect and love. These, who thought differently, were hated and even persecuted. But… You know yourself how grate have these things been changed up to nowadays. Correspondingly, there will be another time – even a better one – when the humankind will shake off all sign of the unnecessary violence upon animals from its body. Thousands of farms, where animals are being exploited now, will only exist till these happier days. And, no longer than the so-called agricultural (but in fact – just a steadily domesticated wild ones-) animals suffer, will the bears suffer.

Below we publish a set of photographs (a property of the Animals Asia Foundation, www.animalsasia.org), which tell about the fate of bears, including those very cubs, which are smuggled from our country to China every spring time.

China. The bear jail. Our days.

“The smaller is the cage, the easier to get the animal’s gallbladder” – the barbaric logic is

Preparation to the process of bear “milking”

This animal didn’t die few years after being forcibly squeezed into this cage and is keep living under such conditions for decades.

Recently bought moonbear cubs on the farm.

The history of the existence of these gloomy factories is just slightly exceeding 2 decades. The story of their appearance: in yearly 80-s of the past century, as if it were for the protecting of the wild bear population from extermination, the government of China approved the creation of the “bear farms” – these real jails. Those, who earlier sold bear bile illegally, saw in the new law an opportunity to increase their income through the multiple pumping out of a bile from live bears (with help of surgically implanted catheter). So the bear farms started to appear all over the country just like a mushrooms after the rain.

However, despite the new bear business brought indeed a good gain to its participators, the life of wild bears was, of course, not improved. Contrary, as result of human’s greed, thousands of wild bears, which till this time were living and growing in a forests, were caught (as cubs) and brought to the newly established jails, where their life (as you see) is even worse than death. Many bears are being caught and transported to such cages even today.

Obviously, the owners of the bear jails are too greedy to provide a normal life conditions for their prays. As they simply cannot feel compassion for the animals. The personnel of the farms works badly – the cages aren’t just small, they aren’t sterile. However, in case of such animals like bears, rubbing of the dirty twigs of a cage often results in the skin scratches with the subsequent blood infection. In the majority of farms, the surgical intervention in the bear’s body is being conducted by a non-sterile tool, closed in the hesitating hand. This answers why the bear mortality on the farms is so high, that “farmers” always need a new prays – i.e. new bears from wild.

In fact, such thing as a humane way of pumping bile from a live bear simply doesn’t exist. All this violence, no matter by what theories and the sanitary conditions it is accompanied, is a pure barbarism. People, practicing it, must first of all understand that one shouldn’t hurt the weaker ones just for making an additional money. Animals Asia Foundation, together with the government of China, closes down some farms, rehabilitates bears, and, finally - gives the former farm owners money to start a new business. There is no control over ex-farmers except for they can't do a new bear farm. But what do you think – what kind of business can stone-hearted people with money start again? A chicken, a pigs, or, may be, some fur farming? As everyone realizes, an easiest thing after a business crash would be to start over something you're the most trained in. But, that doesn’t mean that the criminals should start over their gloomy things.

In fact, all those, who force other beings to suffer today, must be attracted to the work in the benefit of a last. This is a speediest way for such people to neutralize the bad future, which they created for themselves by their own cruel conduct.

After 20 years of existence of these gloomy and shameful bear-farms the number of wild bears in China has been reduced so seriously, that its bearfarmers are now smuggling bears from other countries, including our Russia.

Now about the cut off bear paws. In China, they go to the boiling pots of the restaurants. The reason is that one other stupid belief: “eat a plate of a bear paw soup and you’ll get luck in your business!” is too popular in the country. The truth is that eating a “magic” soup isn’t just an innocent entertainment, no. In fact, it is a real and a very bad one crime! Wealth is like a good wine: one can enjoy it, but, at the same time, there is always a high risk of getting caught by its jaws. A person, which got caught by his/her own wealth, becomes a helpless toy in the hands of a very many people, which skillfully manipulate him/her via set of his/her weaknesses, such as naivete, vainglory etc., thus forcing him/her to make a multitude of unnecessary expenditures... Not just unnecessary, but a very harmful ones. For instance, our luckless businessman spends annually hundreds of dollars for the bear soup, which in fact helps in the business not greater than the pack of the fast-cooked noodle for one forth part of a dollar. Are the clients of the restaurants deceived? Don’t they really understand these simple things? How come that adult people get so stupid? Don’t they in fact understand all these things, but keep eating the bear paws for their own fun?

In reality, the more often would these stone-hearted people waste their money for the expensive bear soup, the harder would their own life be. Our words cannot save those animals, which already killed. But they may still help the potential victims of the foxy bear-soup business in both China and other countries of the bear world range. A person, which buys different kinds of the magic and pseudo magic dishes, amulets and the like, not just loosing his/her own money, but supports the existence of a very cruel and criminal business. Due to the law of karma, any manipulations with the parts of the animals (which are killed in vain) soon or later influence negatively both those, who make them, and those, for whom they are made.

***

No single being on the Earth can live separately from others. Earth – our mutual home. One kid said recently: “We all live in one home, don’t we. Therefore, we are – one family”. Good said! And a Man has to become a soul of this big family, of this unite society of all living beings of the Earth*. An animal’s power is in their fangs and claws, horns and wings... But our power is in our mind, isn’t it? Doesn’t this power gives us an authority upon all other beings? Isn’t it an obvious fact? It really is! And, it is also obvious, that the same power brings so much grief to all…

*In terms, which applied when we call a good friend of us “a soul of our company”

As the most strong beings of the Earth, we must deal with all other its inhabitants as the elder brothers deal with the younger ones. Particularly, we shouldn’t use our exclusive position for any sort of suppression, abuse and exploitation of the weaker ones. We have no right to bereave a weaker ones of their glory by any means. Contrary – we are the only species of the Earth, which, due to its unique intellect, can maintain its life needs in a way, which requires a minimum, if not a zero- negative influence on the interests of others. For example, only we, with our nowadays knowledge know how to live on that planet without any animal’s meat at all. This same knowledge, which can free billions of sentient beings from grate suffering and abnormal death, may, at the same time, help humanity itself to strengthen its own health!

Only the Man alone can integrate the highest principles of the Ultimate Love, Ultimate Compassion and Ultimate Co-happiness into his daily life, thus turning his tortured Earth into a Singing Paradise once again! It is thanks to a Man’s super-modern technologies and all the super knowledge, obtained by hard work of hundreds of the past generations, that we now have such a unique opportunity. Only we – people - are able to predict the possibility of both appearance and development of all different kinds of diseases in our own bodies, so that to fight and stop them in time... So let us live a meritorious life. Let us, once again and forever, be ourselves - A HUMANS.

Written in winter 2005 by Alexey Zborovskiy

The author’s copyright notice:

For the non-commercial purposes, feel free copying and quoting my paper, in either whole or in parts. However, when quoting and copying, citing the source and the authority is requested. In case of using the given document for commercial goals, contact me through e-mail: new_jalsomino( at)yahoo.com