Bear Farming Is Coming to a Full Stop in This Country

As of January 1, 2026, all bear farming will be outlawed in South Korea, a decision that allows the country’s policy on animal cruelty to come full circle as even bile extraction will no longer be tolerated.

“The declaration to cease bear breeding is particularly meaningful because the government, the agricultural industry, and civil society have combined to resolve a 40-year-old issue,” says Minister Han Jeoung-ae, of the Ministry of Enivronment.

The fight to ban bile extraction has been ongoing for decades and possibly the toughest to pull through, as the organic liquid is an ingredient in traditional medicine. Out of the eight existing bear species worldwide, six are threatened by extinction according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, including the Asian black bear, a species indigenous to Korea. The ban announced by the Ministry of Environment will be put in force in 2026, and by 2025, the bears currently farmed will be relocated to shelters for protection.