Why we must all try to stamp out the horrific torture of moon bears

Xiong Junhui, a young female reporter based in Guangdong, is producing an independent documentary about the Asian black market for Asiatic black bear bile extract. The bears are also known as moon bears because of the yellow crescent of fur on their chests.

When did you start becoming concerned about the suffering of moon bears?

I have been living in urban areas and knew little about bile extraction from moon bears before, let alone seeing the cruel bear-bile trade myself. In 2007, I interviewed a Hong Kong industrialist Frank Pong Fai. He said that as a mainland reporter I should be concerned about animal protection in Asia and let more Chinese know it was important to stop abusing animals. Pong has been donating to the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF), which rescues bears on the mainland. Through Pong, I came to know that there's a group rescuing bears, aiming for an end to bear farming and promoting herbal alternatives to bear bile.

What drove you to make such a documentary?

I visited Sichuan soon afterwards to see the bears that had been rescued by AAF. I was touched by the story of Andrew, a bear and also a victim of liver cancer related to his brutal incarceration on a bile farm in western China. I never had a chance to see Andrew, since he had died in Chengdu in 2006.

But it's a story that encourages every Chinese who loves animals and shocks the public into realising that it's time to fight against this cruel trade.