'Are you a bear killer?' If you use this medicine, the answer is yes

Xiongdan (bear bile) pills sold in local shops. Photo: Traffic/Lee Siow Ling

Walk into a Chinese medicine hall in Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur, and tell the sinseh of your bad bout of flu, and you might be prescribed a bottle of Xiong Dan capsules which can supposedly work miracles for flu, fever, haemorrhoids and “heatiness”. But beware – you will inadvertently help push an endangered species closer to the brink.

The capsules are derived from bear bile, which makes them illegal under wildlife laws. But that has not stopped the capsules, and other folk cures made from bear organs, from being sold in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) shops nationwide, according to wildlife trade monitoring group Traffic.