14 DAY TRIAL // It turns out computer software and electronics are not the only things Microsoft is ready and willing to invest time and money in. On the contrary, the company has recently teamed up with an animal rights group and has released an interactive website documenting the horrors of bear bile farming.
The website is intended to raise awareness of this very cruel industry, and thus help put an end to it.
On its website, the World Society for the Protection of Animals says that, currently, thousands of bears are kept in captivity in appalling conditions, just so that workers can collect their bile by means of a catheter inserted in their liver.
This fluid is then used make medicine, which some people use to treat inflammatory conditions, the organization goes on to detail.
According to these animal rights activists, bear bile farming is pretty much blooming in East and Southeast Asia, and especially in China and Vietnam, Nature World News reports.
“The bears in these factories are visibly in severe distress. They are often hurt or scarred from repeatedly rubbing or hitting themselves against the bars of the extraction cages,” the World Society for Protection of Animals explains.
“Factory workers prevent bears from hibernating - they are often kept in spare concrete yards that provide no comfort,” it adds.
To make matters even worse, most of the animals that are abused by this industry are moon bears, the same source details.
This species is currently listed as a vulnerable one, which is why both conservationists and activists are bending over backwards trying to have this practice put an end to without delay.
The interactive website created by Microsoft as part of a collaboration with non-profit group Animals Asia is intended to educate people with respect to the horrors of this industry, and tells the story of Jasper the Bear in the form of three virtual storybooks.
The website is dubbed Exploring Moon Bears, and it is currently available in both English and Chinese.