One of the biggest threats to the survival of remaining wildlife in Southeast Asia is the illegal wildlife trade. Wildlife is sought after for many reasons but the most apparent is for traditional medicines. The most gruesome traditional medicines are bear bile and the use of primate bones as treatments for various diseases and ailments.
Moon bears are kept in captivity in Laos, China, and Vietnam to harvest bile, a digestive juice produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder. When extracted, the bear bile is a valuable commodity for use in traditional medicine. To facilitate the bile milking process, the bears are commonly kept in extraction cages in bear “farms”. Many consider bear farms a way to reduce the demand on the wild bear population. The governments of countries who use bear bile see farming as a reasonable answer to the loss of wild bears from poaching, and at the same time are indifferent to the cruelty issues that concern Western animal rights activists.
Moon bear in a bile farm
For more information see http://www.freethebears.org.au/
Hunting for trade has a greater impact on wildlife than hunting for local subsistence and is often conducted by outsiders. Even where locals are the main hunters, they are usually acting to supply externally initiated opportunities. For example, Vietnam and China have relatively little wildlife remaining so they outsource their hunting to Laos where some wildlife still remains. In some areas, traders come to villages to buy or place orders for gibbons, monkeys, or bears. The trade is often facilitated through middlemen, who will buy and re‐sell the animals for higher profits.
Macaque caught in a trap
Macaque
When locals are confronted about trade of gibbons they most often say that they came into possession of a baby gibbon because they rescued it.
This baby gibbon was found at a village being fed condensed milk. It did not survive.
The common story is that the mother gibbon “dropped” her baby and it was just sitting there so they saved it. Now this story does not make sense for many reasons. First of all, mother gibbons do not simply “drop” their babies. If a baby is not strong enough to hold on, it will fall off of the mother and will likely die, that is the cruelty of natural selection if you will. If it is true that a baby fell off its mother it would most definitely be dead or injured. Remember that the trees are 40-60 meters tall and that is a long way to fall! So the story that villagers are finding baby gibbons on the ground with no injuries simply doesn’t add up. Here is what likely happened. Some locals or visitors were in the forest and happened to come across a gibbon family. They opportunistically shot the mother and father who fell from the trees. They may have caught them in a net. The baby gibbon will hold onto its mother for dear life from birth so when the mother falls the baby comes as well. Now the hunters have some dead adult gibbons that they can sell to whomever for traditional medicine and they have a baby that will likely die. The hunters take the baby to the local village and leave it there while the local people struggle to keep it alive. Since the baby has no mother’s milk it has a very small chance of survival.
A baby gibbon being stored in a net at a village. Baby gibbons cling to their mother from birth and to be separated from them is very traumatic.
Given the dramatic decline in primate populations in Vietnam and China, a continued demand there will lead to increased pressure on primates in Laos, through now well‐established wildlife trade routes. Additionally a sudden fashion for primate bone medicine could also fuel a sharp increase in demand.
Thanks Camille Coudrat for the wildlife photos featured here.
Do poachers pose a safety risk to researchers in the jungle?
Hi Jack,
Actually I have not seen any poachers in my area. However, it is possible that they pose a threat to researchers which is one of the reasons that the Lao government insists that I have a military guy with me who carries an AK47!
Well then, that just adds a whole new dimension to your dedication for studying gibbons. Exciting and a bit scary at the same time.
Hi Crested Gibbon,
Great post. Very sad to see such beautiful creatures caged in such a manner. What else can be done to minimize or eliminate such things from happening? Keep up the good work.
Hi Nate,
I am glad you liked the post. I think the most effective way to eliminate the problem is through education. Many Lao, Vietnamese, and Chinese people believe that these traditional medicines like bear bile are the only way to cure their ailments. There is a synthetic form of bile that is available but many believe that only the pure bear bile will work. What is required is a cultural shift to accepting other forms of medicine which is not easily accomplished unfortunately.
I have found that the explosive growth of these economies, particularly China’s, contributes to the use of traditional medicines. Health care costs have grown right along with this explosion making it unaffordable to 3/4 of the country (800,000,000). With no other choice, they stick with home remedies and very often suffer. I don’t know if bear bile is used by lower income families or not, but it sounds like it’s an option.
That is a good point. Modern healthcare is unaffordable for probably 95% of the Lao population so traditional medicine is a cheaper option here too. Bear bile though is quite expensive in its pure form. My friend’s neighbors in Vientiane saved up for a few months to buy bear bile for their ailing mother and apparently it costs around 6$ (US) a milliliter.
I think education is probably the most effective means of prevention. Many people do not seem to recognize the value of the wildlife. There are patrols in most protected areas which are effective, but of course they cannot be everywhere all the time.
Crested Gibbon,
This is a very dad post and I see the implications of these questions from readers!
Please be careful! Try not to get “in the way” stay safe!
Joyce
I will be careful Mom 🙂
I commend you for your work! I am proud to have such an amazing sister! Be safe and come home soon! X