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Bears for bile

Simon Reeve continues his epic journey around the world following the tropic of Cancer, the northern border of the tropics region.

In the last leg of Simon's journey, he discovers that more than 4,000 bears are held captive inside tiny cages in Vietnam, and repeatedly cut open so that bile can be extracted from their gall bladders, leaving agonising and infected wounds.

The bile is believed to have medicinal properties and is used in traditional remedies.

Simon also visits the Moon Bear Rescue Centre run by the Animals Asia Foundation in northern Vietnam.

After travelling around the tropic of Capricorn and the equator, this series completes Simon's trilogy of journeys exploring the amazing tropics region with his toughest, longest, most ambitious challenge yet.

Release date:

Duration:

3 minutes