Talk:Bile bear

NPOV
Added POV tag; unnecessary bias towards animal rights. Take a drink every time you see the word 'crude' or 'cruel'. Also, it's unnecessary to detail the various methods of bile extraction. – Acdx (talk) 15:02, 29 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Yep. Piano non troppo (talk) 01:51, 9 February 2009 (UTC)


 * There were two examples of "crude," now removed, none of "cruel," one of "cruelty," which is used to describe how certain people see it. Why do you see the bile-extraction methods as unnecessary? This is an article about bile being extracted from bears, so it would seem odd not to mention how it's done. The section would benefit from a source, but perhaps you could add one yourself, or request it? SlimVirgin  talk| contribs 21:13, 19 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Tagged for lack of citations. – Acdx (talk) 17:28, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for your work on the article, SlimVirgin! – Acdx (talk) 16:36, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Picture Captions: I think there might be a mistake with the captions of the two images at the top of the entry. The bear in question is described as being rescued from "Huizhou farms, Vietnam," and the image page sources a China-based website as its source. The problem, however, is that Huizhou is a Chinese place name (a city in Guangdong province), and I have a suspicion that the picture was most likely taken at a Chinese bear bile operation. In case it helps, the Vietnamese phonetic equivalent of Huizhou is Huệ Châu, but I don't think such a place actually exists in Vietnam. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.244.50.24 (talk) 19:26, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

My opinion: fuck Chinese medicine and all its cruel, caveman, scientifically illiterate practices. 98.246.183.207 (talk) 18:02, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Why isn't there a separate article on conditions and extraction of the bile. and leave this to describe what the bile is used for and the alternatives? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.142.170.105 (talk) 03:29, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

I second this. As it is, it's an article about bear bile farming, and how nasty it is. Indeed it is, and there should be an article about this. The current article should be about the product itself. I've added a paragraph linking to articles about ursodeoxycholic acid - the chemical name for the main stuff in bear bile - which does in fact have real 9and now Western) medical value. 115.64.142.162 (talk) 10:38, 12 February 2016 (UTC)
 * That's because the article is about bile bears, not bear bile. The fact that bear bile is medically worthless compounds the atrocious treatment of the animals, but it would remain atrocious even if bile were to cure cancer, AIDS and the common cold. Guy (Help!) 10:58, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Removal of image
An editor recently removed an image here with the edit summary justification that it was essentially a duplicate image. I propose that the image is reinstated. The deleted image differs from the other images as it shows the entire bear in the confines of the cage. The other images show only the empty cages or a close-up of the head of a bear in a cage. I believe the removed image adds information to the article. DrChrissy (talk) 20:12, 8 March 2016 (UTC)
 * I weakly agree. It's true a couple of the images are similar, but they do serve three different purposes. File:Bilebear2.jpg primarily serves to illustrate the condition of the bear, File:Bile bear.jpg primarily serves to illustrate the cage (in use, showing relative size), and File:Sun Bear bile extration 01.jpg primarily serves to illustrate the facility. If we were using the latter to illustrate the cages, I'd say it's that one that should be removed, but I do think they serve complementary purposes despite being similar subjects. Right now the article isn't overloaded with images, so it doesn't seem so problematic to include. &mdash;  Rhododendrites talk  \\ 21:50, 8 March 2016 (UTC)

In popular culture
I have a feeling a bear-bile farm will be featured in Cartoon Network's We Bare Bears at some point in the future, and I do believe the bear-trio were orphaned specifically by bile-hunting poachers (or at least Grizz and Ice Bear were since both grizzlies and polar bears are targeted for bile, but I don't recall about pandas being hunted for that), plus the episode "Burrito" has ignited speculation and there were actual poachers in "Yuri and the Bear", and further more the threesome may also hold personal hatred towards it all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.186.6.124 (talk) 01:43, 16 March 2017 (UTC)


 * I think the article should be blanked and replaced with this Zanahary (talk) 08:54, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

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Logical disagreement
One section asserts that there is no evidence of medical benefit. A second section asserts that there is a "pharmacologically active ingredient."

If there is an active chemical then there must be a biological effect. If there is no effect, then there is no active chemical.

Suggestion- Change: "The pharmacologically active ingredient contained in bear bile and gallbladders is ursodeoxycholic acid..." To: "Bear bile contains ursodeoxycholic acid, which is claimed without evidence to have medical benefits."

67.5.170.72 (talk) 03:12, 23 February 2018 (UTC)


 * well, any claim, especially of medical benefit, need to be cited with a reliable source. Otherwise it should go.  I think the changes suggested sounds good.  Be bold.  Nessie (talk) 04:01, 23 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Apparently ursodeoxycholic acid has some medical benefits, but big pharmaceutical companies don't get it from bears, they synthesize it. Many animals produce products that benefit humans; many humans nevertheless want those animals to be treated in humane ways. HouseOfChange (talk) 14:30, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

"Bear milking" listed at Redirects for discussion
The redirect [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bear_milking&redirect=no Bear milking] has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached. Edward-Woodrow :) [ talk ] 22:31, 6 September 2023 (UTC)