Published May 22, 2013 | 
The Cruel Practice of Bear Bile Farming
Jill Robinson Fights To Save Wildlife
Via Animals Asia Foundation
If you’ve followed wildlife conservation with even a cursory interest over the past decade, you know that Asia is the major hotbed for illegal activity in the wildlife trade.
Rhinos are being slaughtered at a horrific rate to meet the “need” for their horn. Elephants are murdered for their ivory. Tigers are hunted for the alleged aphrodisiacal powers of their penis. Millions of sharks are mutilated– their fins hacked off while they’re still alive– to make shark fin soup. And thousands of Asiatic black bears (a.k.a. moon bears) are kept in cramped cages, with machines sucking out their bile for use in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
It was the latter practice that inspired British-born Jill Robinson to create the Animals Asia Foundation, a Hong Kong-based charity whose mission is to end cruelty to animals in Asia. Awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth in 1998, and the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries award for world’s best sanctuary in 2011, Robinson has worked tirelessly to end the barbaric practice of bear bile farming, improve animal welfare in Asia, and educate China’s government and general public on the importance of wildlife consrvation.
It was an honor to speak with Robinson about the Animals Asia Foundation mission, the challenges facing wildlife conservation in Asia, and what she sees as signs of hope for the future.
Co-Founded by Bret Love & Mary Gabbett, Green Global Travel is an ecotourism, nature / wildlife conservation & cultural preservation magazine. 
