Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
This story is…horrible. It was difficult to believe at first, so the event as it is about to be described has been verified as well as thorough research on the internet can provide. Just over two weeks ago at a still-unknown location in Northwestern China, a mother brown bear held on a farm where bear bile is harvested for medicinal purposes broke free of her cage and killed her cub before killing herself. Specifically, the mother bear somehow managed to escape then sought out her cub and smothered it to death before running head first into a wall and killing herself instantly due to massive head trauma. To put this in context, a brief explanation of why and how these bears were held captive is in order. In China, bile from the gall bladders of indigenous brown bears is still considered by some to be a powerful elixir in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In humans, bear bile is used to treat chronic liver illnesses, high fevers and eye problems, among other things. Giant Robot’s research into the medicinal use of bear bile reveals that the substance is falling out of favor, even within the TCM establishment, because the health benefits of bile are increasingly difficult to substantiate, cheaper and more effective synthetic treatments are available, and the way in which it is harvested is cruel.