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SCMP Reporter

THE bears lie listlessly on their backs in cages too small for them to move. Plastic tubes protrude from their stomachs.

  The sight is enough to disgust anyone, but not many people get to see the appalling conditions in which these once proud and endangered animals are kept.

  Thousands of Hongkong tourists flock to the ''Bear Farm'' on the outskirts of Zhuhai, drawn by the outlandish claims of its elderly co-owners to cure every ailment from acne to cancer by administering bear bile.

  The practice is all the more shocking because the ''farm'' - a rather run-down three-storey house with a back garden - is a joint venture with the Chinese Government.

  The bile is sold to those who still believe wild animal products possess magical medicinal properties.

  The couple which runs the money-spinning business has developed a way of extracting the liquid without killing the bears - hence the plastic tubes which are surgically inserted into the animals' bile duct at an early age.

  The tourists, most of whom have their trips organised by Hongkong travel agents, might be shocked if they saw the behind-the-scenes operation of the farm witnessed by the Sunday Morning Post.

  On arrival at the farm, in the centre of an industrial area, visitors are led upstairs to look down at half a dozen bear cubs playing in a concrete pit.

  A neighbouring pit holding several fully grown bears gives a better insight into the condition of the animals.

  One sits in a corner banging its head against the wall, while another ceaselessly sways its head in front of an iron grill - both forms of behaviour are signs of boredom and insanity.

  But it is in a dark downstairs room that most of the farm's 40 black bears are kept.

  The species is protected in China, but with a locally issued government licence they can be kept in captivity - supposedly in reasonable conditions.

  Some are held in cages smaller than the creatures themselves, and the only way for them to move or stretch is to stick their snouts and paws through the iron bars.

  Many of the bears appear sick, with their faces covered in scabs; at least one had lost all its fur.

  Several of the larger animals have one paw missing, but the owners deny they have been eaten.

  By coincidence, behind the farm in the backstreets of Zhuhai are a number of Tibetan street hawkers selling bear paws, monkey skulls and complete tiger skeletons displayed on rugs.

  They claim the tiger skeletons come from India. Prices vary from $1,500 to $3,000. Other body parts are also available.

  But it is the belief in the power of bear bile which has made Mr Chen Kamto, 60, and Mrs Cheng Choiching, 56, millionaires.

  The couple's outrageous claims range from having made the blind see to making the lame walk.

  In the farm's second-floor lecture room about 100 chairs are arranged in rows for visitors, who hear the virtues of bear bile extolled by one of the company's workers.

  At the front of the room, glass cabinets contain the various potions made from the bile, along with the methods of administration.

  It can be taken with wine, or mixed with Chinese herbs and rubbed directly on to the skin. Each visitor is offered a thimbleful of bile mixed with pure alcohol, a sip of which is enough to bring tears to the eyes.

  A tiny jar of dried bile can allegedly increase the heart rate, act as a pain killer, cure a fever and cancer, and control sugar levels. One gram costs $150.

  Bear fat is a by-product which, when rubbed on the skin, is claimed to turn it white; as a bonus it also cures athlete's foot.

  On Sundays and holidays, hundreds of people from all over China and Hongkong travel to the farm seeking quick cures for their ailments.

  For sceptics, letters are produced from suitably humbled recipients of the ''magic juice'' who were once racked with a multitude of diseases but are now pictures of health.

  One such letter reads: ''I came here with some of my friends and bought two bottles of bear bile and one of bear fat. I put the fat on my face and all my spots disappeared.

  ''I gave a bottle to one of my friends who had severe headaches and now he doesn't have them anymore. I am very thankful for your help and your magic medicine and I would like to buy 10 more bottles.''   Last year Mr Chen and Mrs Cheng made more than 300,000 yuan ($402,000), with one Hongkong man spending $10,000 on one of many visits.

  A group of about 20 elderly people from Hongkong visited the farm while the Sunday Morning Post was there. Many were swayed by the sales talk and could not hand over their money fast enough when it ended.

  After buying the potions, some immediately began rubbing them into various cuts and grazes. ''It is a little bit cruel, but this is the way of business,'' said one man.

    Road accidents have left Mrs Cheng with only one arm and a badly deformed face, leaving Mr Chen to do most of the talking.

  They both claim to suffer heart and lung disorders, which is what they say led them to set up the business. ''Doctors told us the only thing that could cure us was bear bile.

  ''But we didn't want to kill the bears because it's illegal, so we came up with a way of getting the bile and keeping the bears alive.

  ''It took two years to develop the technique, with doctors and a professor from the university helping us,'' explained Mr Chen.

  Their first bears were bought from the Yunnan authorities, who received them from hunters in the forests along the Chinese-Vietnamese border.

  Capturing adult bears is dangerous, so female bears carrying their young are enticed into pits. The mothers are able to climb out, leaving their cubs. These are then bound and taken by lorry to Guangdong.

  At four years of age the animals have the plastics tubes inserted into their stomachs. Syringes are then used to withdraw about half of a bear's bile at a time - to take more would risk its life.

  The liquid is extracted for four years. The animals are then used for breeding, to produce fresh supplies.

  ''They feel no pain,'' said Mr Chen, who has plans to expand the business.

  News of the farm's existence has sparked condemnation in Hongkong. Worldwide Fund for Nature spokeswoman Ms Amy Lau said: ''We are not happy to hear this. I can't imagine that the bears are in good enough condition to have this kind of operation or that it's done in a hygienic way.

  ''They are clearly being cruel to the animals, but they won't let them die because then they will lose the bile.

  ''The black bear is a category two protected species in China and is endangered.''   Doctors say bear bile has no miraculous medicinal properties. One of Hongkong's leading cancer experts, Dr Wesley Shiu, said: ''It's not going to cure cancer.

  ''There is no scientific evidence that it can cure anything, but people who have cancer may be desperate and believe it has some kind of psychological benefit.

  ''The bile may contain some hormones, but you don't need to kill wild animals to get that, it can be bought from the chemist.

  ''The bile is not being extracted in a hygienic way and may contain bacteria and germs. The main function of bile is to increase the absorption of fat.'' 



This couple claims bear bile is a miracle cure for cancer and blindness. The