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Superstitious medical traditions in China advocate the use of bear bile to treat ailments such as fevers and bad vision. The bears used in the treatment are kept in battery cages while bile is painfully extracted from their livers on a continuing basis.

The tortured bears moan and bang their heads against their cages as a result of the physical pain and frustration they must endure. One report, recounted in a National Geographic interview, describes a bile farmed mother bear escaping, killing her cub and then running into a wall to commit suicide.

Up to 10,000 bears per year are killed for their bile in China. Bear bile is not proven to be effective for any of the ailments it is used for, and there is absolutely no reason for this slow, painful form of animal torture to continue. Please sign the petition to convince Hu Jintao to create legislation to end this horrible practice.

For nearly two decades, mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining has been destroying Appalachia's natural landscape and wildlife habitats. Recently, a native woodsman witnessed bulldozers covering the entrance of a black bear den with debris, leaving a crying mother bear and her cubs trapped inside to die.

In addition to hurting bears, the bulldozing and explosions involved in MTR destroy flying squirrel, salamander, mussel and other native animal habitats. Please sign the petition to convince Congress to ban MTR and to enforce legal requirements for coal mining in Appalachia.