Context: Recently,China’s National Health Commission published a list of recommended treatments, apart from western medicine and Chinese medicine, the list included Tan Re Qing, injections that contain bear bile powder.
Background

• Ever since the attention, China has faced enormous pressure from Chinese citizens as well as people from round the globe to end the use of wildlife as a resource.
• Subsequently, the Chinese government finally began laying the groundwork to impose a permanent ban on the trade and consumption of live wild animals for food.
• However, the trade of wild animals for medicine, pets, and scientific research will still carry on in China, although it will be subject to “strict” approval and quarantine procedures.
• Wherein it has recommended the use of Tan Re Qing, an injection that contains bear bile.
• Bear's bile contains high levels of ursodeoxycholic acid, also known as ursodiol. It has been clinically proven to help dissolve gallstones and treat liver disease.

About Bear's bile

• Tan Re Qing is secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder of the bear. 
• The bile from various species of bears, including Asiatic black bears and brown bears, has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine since the 8th century. 
• Bear's bile contains high levels of ursodeoxycholic acid, also known as ursodiol. 
• It has been clinically proven to help dissolve gallstones and treat liver disease. Ursodeoxycholic acid has been available as a synthetic drug worldwide for decades.
• The process of extracting bile from the live bear is painful and can cause agony to the animal. Hence, a  synthetic version of ursodeoxycholic acid has been available for decades.

About Asiatic Black Bear

Common names: Asiatic black bear, Himalayan black bear
IUCN status - vulnerable (A2cd+3d+4d); CITES Appendix I
Scientific name: Ursus thibetanus
Physical Description

• The Asiatic Black Bear has a coat of smooth black fur and can be distinguished by a V of white fur on its chest. It is similar in appearance to the brown bear, but with a slighter build.

Ecology & Habitat

• Broad leaved and coniferous forests to an elevation of 4,300m.

Population & Distribution

• The Asiatic black bear occupies a narrow band from southeastern Iran through Afghanistan and Pakistan, across the foothills of the Himalayas, to Myanmar. It occupies all countries in mainland Southeast Asia except Malaysia and has a patchy distribution in southern China. Another population cluster exists in northeastern China, the southern Russian Far East, and into North Korea. A small remnant population exists in South Korea. They also live on the southern islands of Japan (Honshu and Shikoku) and on Taiwan (China) and Hainan. There are no accurate estimates of population size available.

Threats

• Illegal hunting for body parts, specifically the gall bladder, paws and skin poses the main threat, together with habitat loss caused by logging, expansion of human settlements and roads.