The lives of nearly 1,000 captive bears have been put in jeopardy by the decline of Vietnam’s bile farming industry. An study led by the Australian animal welfare group Free The Bears found that bear bile farms across Vietnam are starving and killing their bears because keeping them alive has become too costly. Profits from bear bile have dropped amid decreasing demand for bile from captive bears and an oversupply, according to the researchers.

Bear bile, a digestive fluid secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder, is coveted by some in China and other Asian countries, where traditional medicine practioners advertise it as a cure for everything from hangovers to cancer. Studies have shown bear bile actually can