A recent study by the London-based World Society for the Protection of Animals (wspa) and the Singapore-based Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (acres) have revealed that nearly 50 out of 68 Chinese medicine shops surveyed in Singapore sell banned products extracted from bears through a cruel practice. The study has renewed concerns among animal rights supporters about bear farming.

Significantly, Singapore had put a ban on the sale of gall bladder and bile medicines extracted from bears. These are used as a cure for stomach and liver ailments by the Chinese.

An earlier study had found that of the 7,000 captive black bears in Chinese provinces, many were crammed into tiny dingy cages and were being "milked' for their bile through holes cut in their abdomens. Once the bears stopped producing bile they were killed for their gall bladders. China Central Television (cctv) showed bears in small dingy cages with surgically implanted tubes and valves for the collection of bile which caused them excruciating pain.