A Fujian-based medicine company opened one of its live bear bile-extracting bases to the media Wednesday, in an attempt to quell criticism of its practices.

The issue highlights the conflict between the rise of animal welfare groups and some of the country's traditions.

Over 100 reporters visited the bear farm of Guizhentang Pharmaceutical Company in Hui'an county. Dressed in protective suits, hats and gauze masks, they were allowed to go inside rooms where bears above 3 years old were caged for daily bile extraction.

No foreign media were invited.

A Global Times reporter saw that while the bear was taking its meal, a worker injected a needle about 10 centimeters long into the bear's gallbladder area, and bile traveled through a tube into a container.

The process lasted less than one minute, and the bear did not struggle during the extraction.

"It does not hurt at all. It's like milking a cow or a baby suckling," Wu Ya, a secretary to the board of the company, told the visiting media. "It was not wounded, and the hole will heal."

It's the first time that the company revealed the extraction process to the public since its establishment in 1996. It came less than a month after Guizhentang's plan to get listed was disclosed on February 1, which set off an online uproar.

A boycott against the company led by animal rights activists was launched, and a petition signed by several celebrities was submitted to the China Securities Regulatory Commission on February 14.

According to Guizhentang, the company farmed 470 bears last year and hopes to increase the number to 1,200 following the listing in order to step up annual production of bear bile to 4,000 tons. The company's website was hacked on Saturday night.

Bear bile is used in China and other Asian countries to treat fevers, liver disease, eye problems and other health issues.

The Animals Asia Foundation (AAF), which was not invited to Wednesday's tour, accused the company of lacking sincerity.

"We feel sorry for Guizhentang. We had believed it was a very valuable opportunity for an on-site inspection. But now we don't think it's necessary to talk with the company any more," Zhang Xiaohai, external affairs director of the AAF, told reporters Wednesday following the event.

Zhang told the Global Times that any means of bile extraction is inhumane, and reiterated the AAF's stance on banning bear-farming.

"The extraction can cause inflammation in the gallbladder of the animal and the bile from sick bears poses health risks to humans," Zhang said.

In a subsequent press conference, a panel of experts on medicine and zoology invited by Guizhentang stressed the importance of preserving traditional Chinese medicine.

Zhang Shichen, a professor at the Beijinag University of Chinese Medicine, said in the 1980s, people killed bears for bile before bear farmers used tubes to extract the bile for an entire day.

"Now, the extraction only takes place for a short time regularly," he said, adding that the tradition should not be dropped simply because of protests from some animal welfare organizations.

"So far, bear bile cannot be totally replaced by any kind of machine," Zhang Shichen stressed, calling for improvements in extraction to further reduce pain.

Currently, there are 68 bear-farming firms in China, down from more than 480 in the 1990s, and the number of bears used for bile extraction is around 6,000 to 8,000, according to Fang Shuting, director of the China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Former NBA star Yao Ming joined the campaign opposing bear-farming organized by the Beijing Loving Animal Foundation by signing his name on a petition.

He and his wife visited rescued bears in a base in Chengdu on Saturday.

With awareness of animal protection gaining ground in China, some animal rescue efforts have been seen as extreme and controversial.

On April 15, a group of dog lovers forcibly stopped a truck carrying over 500 dogs on the Beijing-Harbin expressway and bought the dogs from the truck drivers.

While many hailed the people as heroes, their rescue mission also encountered some measure of criticism.

"I am not against their goal of protecting animals, but breaking the law cannot be recognized or encouraged," Wang Lei, a Peking University law school professor, told the Global Times.

Agencies contributed to this story

Global Times reports

Vets push to close bear farms

Veterinarians and animal protection activists said Tuesday that there are no humane ways to extract bear bile, and that the farming of the substance must end.

Scientists push bear bile sub

At a Beijing Loving Animals Foundation (BLAF) seminar yesterday, experts called for the government to approve the use of bear bile substitutes, in a bid to stop the practice of bile extraction from live bears by traditional Chinese medicine companies.

Bear bile rivals claw away   

Animal activists petition against IPO

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