A company, Guizhentang, has to face a storm of criticism(批评).The company is in the bear bile(胆汁)business. It has bear farms in which bile is taken out and used in traditional Chinese medicine and for other purposes.
Bile is a liquid that is produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder(胆囊).In bears(and in humans too), bile is necessary to help digest(消化)fatty food. Traditional Chinese medicine uses bear bile to treat pain, fever and vision problems. Bile for traditional Chinese medicine used to be collected by killing bears, but it was discovered that bear bile could be got by keeping the bears alive and just
"milking" them by putting a rubber tube into the bodies of bears. Unfortunately, this is a painful process(过程)and bears have to live a life of suffering.
Animal rights groups want this practice to stop. They say it is cruel to treat animals that way.
Guizhentang disagrees. It says the practice isn't harmful and that it is actually helping bears. There are fewer Chinese black bears from which the bile can be taken, because man is taking over the forests that bears live in. The company says bear farms are a way to protect the species.
Anyhow, we should know that causing animals great pain is wrong. There are man-made substitutes(替代品)for bear bile that work just as well, so bear farms aren't really necessary. If Guizhentang really wants to protect black bears, they should perhaps think about getting out of the bear bile business.
①It is produced in the gall bladder.
②It helps digest fat.
③It can cure a person's eye problems.
④It's now got mainly by killing bears.
