Weird stuff in TCM...... List it!

[Jimbo]

There's something particularly creepy about the owls in those jars. Maybe because out of all birds, owl faces have a somewhat 'humanoid' look to them. Anyway, I like owls and hope they put a stop to that.

[herb ox]

Terrible. Never heard of owl's being used as medicine either. Probably just one man's way of making a living.

My body aches pretty much feel better after I drink just about anything soaked in hard liquor, though...

[GeneChing]

...but so worthy of posting here.

[GeneChing]

I almost posted this in Chinese toilets.

Rare giant salamander is found injured in Chinese sewage plant after 'escaping from a restaurant'

Amphibian was discovered in Zhenzhou, central China, on February 25
Staff at the local forestry bureau rescued the injured animal immediately
The rare animal is sometimes considered to be a luxury food item in China

By CHLOE LYME FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 07:45 EST, 25 February 2016 | UPDATED: 07:45 EST, 25 February 2016

An injured giant salamander has been found at a sewage plant in central China.

The unusual discovery was made in Zhenzhou, Henan Province today, reports Huanqiu.com, an affiliation of the People's Daily Online, and the animal was immediately sent to the local wild animal rescue station.

Experts suspected the rare amphibian, which measured 27 inches in length and weighed eight pounds, had escaped from a farm or a restaurant.


Rare: This giant salamander was found in a sewage plant today Zhenzhou, Henan Province, east China


Escaped: Staff at the Zhenzhou Forestry Wild Animal Rescue Station suspect it came from a restaurant

The giant salamander was found at the Matougang Sewage Plant in Zhenzhou.

After it was retrieved from the processing section of the plant, the muddy animal received medical treatment for minor injuries sustained during its ordeal.

With an injured tail, the giant salamander was sent to the Zhenzhou Forestry Wild Animal Rescue Station.

The director of the centre, Dong Chaowei, told reporters that he suspected the amphibian could have escaped from a restaurant or a farm and went into the urban sewage system, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency.

But Dong said it could also have been released on purpose.

The giant salamander remains in the centre where it is being carefully looked after by staff who hope for a speedy recovery.


Injured: The amphibian hurt its tail when is escaped and climbed into an urban sewage system in China


Tiny: This salamander is relatively small, it measured 27 inches in length and weighed eight pounds

Pictures taken after the rescue show the rare creature being washed, measured and cared for in some water.

They also show the staff at the centre carefully looking after the salamander, feeding and dressing its wounds.

Giant salamanders are the largest species of amphibian in the world, and can grow up to six feet in length.

The ancient animals are often described as the 'living fossil' because they have remained unchanged for 170million years.

They have also been declared 'critically endangered' by the Zoological Society of London.


Shocking: Staff were working at the sewage plant in Henan Province today when they found the rare creature


Emergency: The muddy animal received medical treatment for minor injuries sustained during its ordeal

The amphibians are also one of the oldest species on the planet, but have suffered from a huge dip in population over the past thirty years with human consumption the major cause of this decline.

In China, giant salamanders are called 'wa wa yu' - or 'baby fish' - because their distress call sounds like the cry of a baby

The amphibians are sometimes considered to be a luxury food item as well as an important source of traditional medicines, in spite of its rarity.

As they are slow and easy to hunt, catching the salamanders in nets is not a problem for Chinese poachers and they have been killed in droves - although they are now a protected species in China.

The creatures tend to be most commonly found in rocky mountain streams and lakes with clear fast-running water, and are known to dine on crabs, lobsters and large fish.

THE GIANT SALAMANDER: NATURE'S GRACEFUL JUGGERNAUT
The giant salamander is very heavily built, with a flat, broad head and a truncated snout
The creatures' breeding season is said to take place between August and September
The Chinese giant salamander used to be widespread in south-western and southern China
Giant salamanders occupy underwater hollows, and spend their whole lives in water
In the 1960s, more than 33,000 pounds of Chinese giant salamander meat was harvested each year from one single prefecture in Hunan province
Source: Zoological Society of London

[GeneChing]

If ever there was a web article that was perfect for this thread, here it is.

Check Out Some Of China’s Nastiest ‘Traditional’ Medicines
RYAN PICKRELL
2:38 PM 08/28/2016



While traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments like acupuncture and herbal remedies have gone mainstream, there is another side to TCM that will likely make your stomach turn.

Coffin bacteria, or guan cai jun, is used to treat bone cancer and associated pain. This type of bacteria grows on the inside of coffins above the mouths of the deceased. According to the TCM guide “Reflection on Traditional Chinese Medicine,” the coffin must be made of high-quality wood, and the “resident” must be a male.

The origins of the bacteria make it decidedly hard to harvest, especially considering that most people these days are cremated in China. Coffin bacteria is said to be a type of Ganoderma lucidum, which is considered to be a potential anti-cancer agent.

Rulvis glycyrrhizae extractionis sedilis, known as ren zhong huang in China, is produced by placing licorice root stored in a loose bamboo container in human feces and leaving it there for an extended period of time.

This “medical treat” can supposedly remove internal body heat and detoxify blood. It can also be used, in theory, to cure polydipsia (abnormal thirst), erysipelas (a bacterial skin infection), high fevers and ulcers.

Depositum urinae hominis, also known as ren zhong bai, or “sediment of human urine,” is exactly what it sounds like, and it’s used to clear “pathogenic internal heat” and “resolve blood stagnation.” This type of medicine can supposedly be used to cure fatigue, atrophic lung disease, nosebleeds, hematemesis (vomiting blood), sore throat, malnutrition-based gingivitis, and aphthae ulcers.

Bat dung, known as ye ming sha, or Faeces vespertilonis, also has alleged medical uses. The original name for this powdery medicine was tian shu shi, or “flying rat poop.”

Supposedly, this medication can reduce internal body heat, improve one’s eyesight, aid blood dissipation, and fix blood stagnation. Bat dung can be used to treat glandular swelling, malaria, night blindness, malnutrition, and glaucoma. This type of medicine is still apparently used frequently in China.

Dried human placenta, called zi he che, theoretically nourishes the blood and replenishes essence, as well as cures night sweats, impotence, spermatorrhea (excessive, involuntary ejaculation), hemoptysis (coughing blood), asthma, infertility, and blood and energy deficiency in women.

Ambergris, known as long xian xiang, is a substance secreted in the intestines of sperm whales that can be found floating in the ocean. This can treat asthma, abdominal pains and energy problems.

There are also treatments which involve drinking urine, eating ants, and being stung by bees.

The strangest of China’s treatments is actually a snack and a part of China’s “intangible cultural heritage.” In Dongyang, Zhejiang, locals collect buckets of urine from primary school students and use the urine to boil eggs. These urine-soaked eggs, known as tong zi niao zhu ji dan, are said to cure headaches, coughing, thirst, certain heart and lung ailments, several key gynecological problems, injuries and a variety of ocular disorders.

Jilin-based TCM specialist Wang Jian explained to The Daily Caller News Foundation that while some of these treatments are now less common, all of the above can still be found in certain parts of China. He added, “[These medicines] will probably do the trick, but they are a bit gross.”

[GeneChing]

I've had gator back when I was carnivorous. I never really developed a taste for reptiles or amphibians. Too chewy.

TASTES LIKE CHICKEN
Why China loves crocodile meat
Two residents, who suffered from flood, ride on a boat with a crocodile after it was killed at a flooded residential area in Bangbuatong district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011. The crocodile was believed to have fled because of flood from a farm in other province nearby. The threat that floodwaters will inundate Thailand's capital could ease by the beginning of next month as record-high levels in the river carrying torrents of water downstream from the country's north begin to decline, authorities said Sunday.


Ready for sale. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

WRITTEN BYEcho Huang Yinyin
OBSESSION Life as Laboratory
September 13, 2016

I have been fighting the running nose and teary eyes that come with Allergic rhinitis, better known in the west as hay fever, for most of my 23 years. As a kid, my parents tried giving me over-the-counter anti-allergy medicines and consulted medical doctors, and relied on traditional Chinese medicine: boiling eggs with Plumeria flowers, and cooking honey produced by Chinese dark bees.
Last year they gave me a milk-shake thick, off-white stewed meat soup, which they told me was good for the respiratory system.
The soup was plain and tasted of pork, while the meat tasted like chicken. But it was crocodile meat. Many people in Guangdong province in southern China, where I am from, have tried the chicken-like meat, out of curiosity or for its medicinal effects.
This demand is part of the reason for the current crocodile farming craze in Africa, where 85% of crocodile exports go to China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan combined. Last year, African countries exported some $196 million worth of crocodile to China.
“There is nothing Guangdong people wouldn’t eat in the sky, besides planes, and on the ground, cars,” is a popular Guangdong idiom describing the local craze for exotic meats. That includes the masked palm civet, a popular wild meat that was linked to the 2003 SARS outbreak.
But the crocodile’s use in traditional Chinese medicine dates back to at least the Ming Dynasty in the 16th century, when it was regarded as a highly nutritional meat that can cure respiratory illnesses like asthma caused by the prevalence of disease-causing “feng,” or wind, according to the Compendium of Materia Medicine (link in Chinese) written by Li Shizhen, a Chinese pharmacologist.
“My families said it’s good for nutrition, and every other day there would be vacuum-packed crocodile meat in the refrigerator,” said 22-year-old Kong Minying, a Guangdong native, recalling her family’s craze for crocodile meat that started several years ago. She said she didn’t know exactly where the crocodile came from, only that the meat was from the crocodile’s back, and “quite expensive,” at around 500 yuan ($78).


(CCTV)

“It’s like a treat to eat crocodile meat,” said 25-year-old Vanty Pan, who lives in Guangzhou. “I had the crocodile soup at a fancy seafood restaurant at Zhanjiang,” a city in the southwestern part of Guangdong. He recalled the restaurant kept crocodiles.
There are many ways to cook crocodile meat, including, but not only limited to, stewing it and boiling it. A recent discovery in a Shenyang night market (link in Chinese) in northern China showed crocodile meat being fried and barbecued by hawkers and sold for 30 yuan ($4.5) per skewer.


Crocodile for barbecue in Shandong Province. (Guangming Daily)

Prices for fresh crocodile meat vary from 129 yuan (link in Chinese) for 800 grams to 310 yuan (link in Chinese) for four grams on Chinese online shopping platforms, where it is advertised as curing asthma.


Crocodile meat on JD.com


Crocodile meats on taobao

Food isn’t the only reason African farmers are farming crocodiles. The meat from one crocodile sells for $50 to $69, and the animal can yield a further $123 for its skin, which is then made into shoes, handbags and belts, Collins Mueke who raised 33,000 crocodiles in Nairobi, told the BBC.
“Don’t you think it’s a waste to toss the meat while so many crocodiles are used for making handbags?” a user known as Fat Boy (link in Chinese, registration required) on China’s version of Twitter, Weibo, told Quartz. A graduate of Zhejiang University, based in the eastern city of Hangzhou, had crocodile soup in a Guangdong-style restaurant.
Personally, I am not a big fan of crocodile handbags, or the soup. Even after eating it, the runny nose never left me. My parents decided to give up on this treatment method, but they continue to seek other traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions for my ongoing allergies.

[GeneChing]

Magnetic therapy....on balls.

Man accidentally gets his balls stuck between two magnets while performing 'magnetic therapy'

[IMG]http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/alexlinder/magnet_*****.jpg[/IMG]

On Monday, a man in Guangdong province did perhaps the worst thing you could possibly do with a pair of magnets, he got them stuck on his balls.
At 4:48 a.m. that morning, emergency services in Zhongshan city received a desperate cry for help. 10 firefighters rushed off to the scene where they found a 45-year-old man in extreme pain. According to Southern Metropolis Daily, the man explained that he was practicing some "magnetic therapy" at home early that morning and in the process had unwittingly got his testicles trapped between two powerful magnets and was unable free himself.
Understandably, the firefighters didn't know quite what to do. The commander decided that they should take the poor man straight to the hospital. At the hospital, the firefighters and doctors argued over what should be done. In a video of the delicate operation, one of the firefighters is seen explaining to the man that they have "never encountered anything like this before" and are trying to decide who will take responsibility (if something should go wrong).

[IMG]http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/alexlinder/magnet_*****2.jpg[/IMG]

The understandably impatient man says that he'll take full responsibility and the rescuers begin setting up to separate the magnets with a hydraulic tool. Before they go to work, they ask for permission from both the man and his wife. "You all have to pull, just one person won’t be enough," the man advises. However, doctors quickly found that there is simply no room for the giant hydraulic machine -- the magnets are stuck on there too tight.
At a loss for what to do, doctors even try calling the manufacturer of the magnets. The company proposes that the rescuers try and slide them off. Doctors also rule out this method as too risky. Once again, doctors and firefighters are stuck discussing the best course of action. At this point, the man has had his balls continuously crushed by a pair of magnets for 4 hours and is staring to get annoyed.

[IMG]http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/alexlinder/magnet_*****3.jpg[/IMG]

Fortunately, the firefighters soon realized that the magnets aren't all that solid. They decided that they could use the hydraulic cutter to break up the magnets into smaller pieces so that they would lose their powerful pull. Following a very delicate operation, they were able to free the man's balls.
Afterward, a doctor performed a check on the man's scrotum and found no lasting damage.
Watch the video below:



Firefighters are starting to get pretty good at this kind of thing. Only last month, a man in Guangxi managed to get a ring stuck on his ***** for two days, local firefighters were able to get it off in only 90 minutes
[Images via Southern Metropolis Daily // Video via 一手Video]

For the record, this might not have been actual TCM but it did happen in China and that's good enough for me.

[GeneChing]

Donkeys aren't all that weird, but Donkey hide jello is.

Donkey hide jello just sounds wrong.

South Africa: Donkeys Smuggled From SA to China for Medicine


Photo: Daily News
(file photo).

By Kimon De Greef

A Johannesburg businessman was arrested this week after falsely declaring a shipment of 300 donkey hides at OR Tambo airport. Investigators suspect that the man, a Chinese national, is the leader of a local donkey smuggling ring.

Gelatin from donkey hides is used to manufacture a traditional Chinese medicine called ejiao. Prescribed for treating anaemia, sleeplessness and excessive menstrual bleeding, among other ailments, ejiao sells for up to R5,000 per kg. (Though clinical evidence for these treatments is lacking, a small peer-reviewed study suggests ejiao may be effective for treating anaemia.)

Surging demand and a shortage of donkeys in China have led, in the last few years, to the unprecedented emergence of a global donkey market, with reports of large-scale trade across Africa. According to Grace de Lange from the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) Farm Animal Protection Unit, donkey prices in South Africa have increased more than fourfold in the last two years.

The trade, though not technically illegal, is poorly regulated, and has drawn condemnation from welfare groups following reports of donkeys being slaughtered inhumanely. "Donkeys are the latest victims of the trade in animal parts 'for medicinal purposes' to the Far East," wrote the NSPCA in a statement last September, when news of the trade first broke.

South Africa's Animal Protection Act forbids cruelty towards animals. According to Mpho Mokoena, an inspector in the NSPCA's Farm Animal Protection Unit, large numbers of donkeys have been slaughtered using knives and hammers in rural parts of Limpopo, the Northern Cape, and North West Province. "It's extremely upsetting to see the remains," Mokoena said.

In an incident last October SPCA officials intercepted a flatbed truck carrying 41 "crushed, dead or dying" donkeys in Limpopo. Four foreign African men were sentenced to 8 months in jail.

The confiscation at O.R. Tambo took place on 15 February after customs officials noticed a foul smell emanating from 39 boxes labeled 'cladding'. The boxes were destined for Hong Kong.

Four days later police raided a farm in Randfontein, confiscating more than 1,000 skins. The premises had been rented by the same man whose fraudulent shipment was blocked. (Police have not yet released the man's name, which is known to GroundUp, and did not respond to questions in time for publication.)

"Government is starting to take the illegal skins issue seriously," said Ashley Ness from the Highveld Horse Care Unit (HHCU), a welfare nonprofit that has been monitoring the trade. "Hopefully this will lead to more arrests."

Separately, the North West Department of Rural, Environmental and Agricultural Development (READ) announced on Tuesday that it was embarking on a formal "donkey production program", investing in farms and equine abattoirs for meeting Chinese demand. Provincial representatives signed a memorandum of understanding with China last year.

"The spike in donkey hide demand around the world means that donkeys and donkey products are an agricultural commodity and will contribute to [growth] in the province," the department wrote in a statement. "The Department strongly condemns ... illegal trade of [donkey] hides and meat."

But Ness, from the HHCU, feared that these initiatives would lead to further animal abuse. "Who's going to monitor the facilities? There's a risk that this will cause more welfare issues."

The HCCU launched a petition the same day calling for an end to all donkey slaughter in South Africa. By Friday afternoon it had drawn nearly 500 signatures.

Gumtree South Africa announced on Friday that is was prohibiting all sales of donkeys and donkey skins on its platform. "We decided that extreme measures would be necessary to prevent further unsavoury practises," spokesperson Claire Cobbledick said.

[herb ox]

E jiao - aka "a$$ hide glue" kid you not!

Works wonders for restoring blood loss after giving birth, and stopping hemorrhage. Good for "gluing" a "slippery fetus" (i.e. fetus developing in a "prone to miscarry" mother) into place.

h. ox

[GeneChing]

I don't mean you personally, herb ox. Do you stock and prescribe ejiao?

CHINESE MEDICINE IS USING DONKEY SKINS TO BOOST LIBIDO—AND AFRICA’S ANIMALS ARE AT RISK
BY CONOR GAFFEY ON 6/14/17 AT 9:43 AM
CLOSE

Demand for a form of traditional Chinese medicine is putting the donkey population at risk in South Africa and other parts of the continent.

In recent years, the market in ejiao—a product made from boiled-down donkey skins mixed with herbs and other ingredients—has grown massively in China, putting millions of donkeys at risk of slaughter or poaching.

In South Africa, poor farmers who rely on donkeys as beasts of burden and modes of transport have reported having their animals stolen, only to later find their skinless carcasses.

South Africa’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has confiscated more than 1,000 donkey hides en route to China in the past year, chief inspect Mpho Mokoena told Voice of America (VOA). Mokoena fears that the growing trade in donkey skins could signal the extinction of the animal in South Africa. “In two years there won’t be [any] donkeys in South Africa,” she told VOA.


Donkey skins dry in the sun at a licensed specialized slaughterhouse in Baringo, Kenya, on February 28. The trade in donkey skins is legal in some countries, but is putting donkey populations in parts of Africa at risk.
TONY KARUMBA/AFP/GETTY

The slaughter of donkeys and trade in their skins is on an upward trend in other parts of Africa, too. A January report by U.K.-based charity the Donkey Sanctuary found that demand for donkeys in Africa has risen so much that, in the West African country of Burkina Faso, the cost of a single animal almost doubled from £60 ($76) in 2014 to £108 ($137) in 2016.

The global donkey population stands at around 44 million, the vast majority of which are working animals, but the Donkey Sanctuary report estimated that global demand for donkey skins is between 4-10 million, with at least 1.8 million donkey skins being traded per year.

Four African countries—Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Senegal—have banned donkey exports, as well as Pakistan. The consumption of donkey meat is also considered haram (forbidden) in Islam, meaning that the slaughter of donkeys in many countries with large Muslim populations is frowned upon.

Donkeys are under threat largely due to the rise in popularity of ejiao, according to the report. In China, some believe that ejiao has various health benefits, from anti-aging properties to boosting sex drive, and it is even marketed as a gynecological treatment that can reduce reproductive diseases in women. Demand is so high that ejiao can sell for up to £300 ($382) per kilogram, according to the Donkey Sanctuary report.

Traditional medicine in China and other parts of East Asia is associated with the decline of other animal populations and wildlife agencies have said that wild rhinoceros could be wiped out within a decade as a result of increased poaching. Rhino horn can sell for up to $60,000 per kilogram—more valuable by weight than gold or diamonds—due to myths that it can solve a wide range of medical ailments, including cancer and hangovers.

Tiger bones are also reputed to be a remedy for arthritis in traditional medicine, while ivory from elephant tusks is also used in some medications, as well as being prized for ornamental purposes in China.

[GeneChing]

Plus I caught this on the radio last Sunday:

Amid Growing Threats, Donkey Rescuers Protect The Misunderstood Beasts Of Burden
June 18, 2017 7:29 AM ET
JOHN BURNETT


Mark Meyers is the founder of Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue in San Angelo, Texas. His sanctuaries protect some 3,000 animals, making it the largest donkey defense organization in the world.
John Burnett/NPR

Donkeys have been loyal beasts of burden for 5,000 years, yet they still don't get a lot of respect.

In the wild, burro herds are a nuisance. In captivity, they can be mistreated. But in recent years, donkey sanctuaries have sprung up across the country. The largest among them is Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, outside of San Angelo, Texas, where the air periodically erupts with the unpeaceable sounds of donkey braying.

Just like its hee-haw, so much about the donkey is species specific. Their temperament — intelligent, cautious and playful — is unique in the equine world. Males and females are called jacks and jennies. And they're widely misunderstood.

"[People] assume they're stubborn. They assume they're stupid," says Mark Meyers, the founder and executive director of Peaceful Valley. "So there's a very negative connotation out there, the Bugs Bunny — turn into a donkey when he does something stupid."

Meyers has become America's foremost donkey defender.

Bored with the electrical contracting business, he and his wife, Amy, began adopting abused and unwanted donkeys at their ranchette outside Los Angeles. By 2005, they had accumulated 25 animals, and he decided to sell his companies and protect donkeys full time. They moved out to hot, flat, west Texas seven years ago.

When Meyers — a burly, white-bearded Buddhist — walks into a pen, he's mobbed by love-hungry donkeys.

"These donkeys here are some of our ambassador donkeys," he says, patting two affectionate beasts named Buddy and Houdini. "We do public outreach with them. We're headed to the Topeka Zoo in a few weeks to show the people how cool donkeys can be."

At any given time, his paddocks are home to 1,000 donkeys. Together with a network of sanctuaries scattered around the country, Peaceful Valley has grown into the largest donkey rescue organization in the world — sheltering some 3,000 total animals. Half are wild burros removed from public lands; half were abandoned, abused or neglected.

But the idea is not to run a home for old donkeys; the idea is to find them new homes. The ranch gives up more than 400 donkeys a year for adoption because their new owners say they make great pets.

"Like a really smart dog"


Melissa Schurr, with her 21-year-old jack donkey, Buckaroo, at a ranch near Sacramento, Calif. She says donkeys are like dogs, for their intelligence, loyalty and playfulness.
John Burnett/NPR

"Hi, Buck ... you want a cookie?" calls out Melissa Schurr in a singsong voice. The equine dentist approaches her 21-year-old spotted jack, Buckaroo, on the ranch where they live outside of Sacramento, Calif.

Meyers helped her adopt Buckaroo, who was a wild ass in western Arizona in his youth.

"Donkeys are very dog-like creatures. They're loyal, they're sweet. It's like a really smart dog — a border collie — and the best horse you ever had, wrapped up in one animal," Schurr says.

"We've had to change how we shut our gates. He'll watch you and figure out how to open gates," she adds, rubbing the insides of Buckaroo's ears. In response, he closes his eyes and nuzzles her shoulder. "We have to latch everything. You can't just tie it. He'll untie it. They're very smart."

The Bureau of Land Management estimates there are more than 13,000 wild burros on public lands in five Western states — but thousands more are uncounted. (Some semantics: donkeys are domesticated; burros are wild.)

Feral populations can become a nuisance. Burros foul springs, overgraze, trample the ground and drive away native species.

Kevin Goode, a special assistant at Texas Parks & Wildlife, says in the outback, burros are wild.

"They are very skittish," Goode says. "They are very aggressive, both towards humans and other animals. They don't play well with others."

In the old days, people shot bothersome burros. Today, land managers typically tolerate them until the herd gets so big it has to be removed or culled. Captured wild burros then have to be gentled up before they can be adopted.

Later this month, Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue will send trailers, wranglers and herding dogs to Ajo, Ariz., to round up some 500 donkeys that have wandered over from Mexico onto public grazing land. Crossing the border may have saved their lives.

The U.K.-based animal rights group Donkey Sanctuary reports that Mexico is one of 21 countries that slaughters donkeys and exports their hides to China, which uses them to make a popular traditional medicine.

"Quite simply, supply has not kept up with demand," says Donkey Sanctuary campaigns manager Simon Pope. "Wild populations of donkeys around the world are being looked at and sized up as potential supplies to feed into this trade."


Donkeys with "kill tags," wait in export pens in Eagle Pass, Texas, destined for slaughterhouses in Mexico. Chinese are buying up donkey skins around the world to use in making traditional medicine.
Julie Caramonte/Equine Welfare Alliance and Wild Horse Freedom Foundation

Mark Meyers and other animal rights activists report that more donkeys and burros are being sold to "kill buyers" in the U.S., and exported to Mexican slaughterhouses to feed the insatiable global skin market.

"China has increased the demand for donkey hides to 4 million a year," he says. "They've decimated their own donkey herds. They've decimated several African nations' donkey herds. So now they're turning to South America and Mexico."

So the people at Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue believe their work is more urgent than ever.

If there's more, I'll split this into its own indie thread.

[herb ox]

Gene - to answer your question, yes, I have prescribed E Jiao in the past. It is not something that I stock or utilize currently as I prefer to use non-animal medicinals in my custom formulations. That being said, sometimes certain medicinals do the job more effectively than their substitutes. But in the name of compassion toward sentient beings, I increasingly avoid animal products in my formulations.

h.ox

[GeneChing]

This has become enough of an issue that I'm copying the posts off our Weird stuff in TCM List it! thread and creating an indie Donkey Crisis thread.

Donkey forum in China to address thinning herd as demand for skins soars
Donkey skins are used in traditional Chinese medicines touted as sex, beauty or longevity aids
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 15 August, 2017, 6:42pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 15 August, 2017, 11:21pm



Sidney Leng
sidney.leng@scmp.com
http://twitter.com/SidneyLeng

All eyes and ears in the donkey world will be focused on the rural Chinese backwater of Donge county in Shandong province this week as dozens of international researchers meet to address the country’s growing appetite for the animal.
Donkeys are big business in China where their skins are boiled for gelatin used in various traditional Chinese medicines touted either as sex, beauty or longevity aids.
China’s demand for donkey skin is so great that it is endangering donkey populations worldwide.
According to one estimate, China had 11 million donkeys in the 1990s. Now it’s down to about six million. The gap between supply and demand has forced Chinese factories to import donkey skins from other parts of the world.
On average, about four million donkeys, half outside China, are killed every year to be skinned and turned into powders, tablets and face creams.
Demand for traditional Chinese medicine fuelling rising slaughter of donkeys in Africa



Dong-E-E-Jiao, the country’s biggest maker of a donkey-skin medicine, is hosting the three-day conference, which started on Tuesday and is being covered live by Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily and state television.
Two donkeys are pictured in front a donkey meat restaurant in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, on Nov. 12, 2014. The restaurant used these two donkeys to let customers believe that the meat dishes in their restaurant is authentic donkey meat. (Imaginechina)
Dong-E-E-Jiao chairman Qin Yufeng said China led the world in the donkey industry and was willing to shoulder more of the burden to find solutions to its problems.
Qin said an international fund would be set up during the conference to usher in a “new era of technology and innovation” for the business of breeding and slaughtering donkeys.
The company also said it was hitching a ride on the “Belt and Road Initiative” to lead the global donkey industry.
Chinese health fad that’s decimating donkey populations worldwide
The company’s stock price has doubled on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in the last three years, with sales in the first half of 2017 rising to 2.93 billion yuan (US$439 million) from 2.67 billion yuan a year earlier.
According to the Qilu Evening News, conference organisers said the industry needed to harness the value of every animal.


Photo taken on June 30, 2017 shows Tibetan wild donkeys in Hoh Xil of northwest China's Qinghai Province. (Xinhua)

“China is working hard to explore the maximum value of each donkey – it is closely connected with the country’s economic development,” organisers were quoted as saying.
Opening the conference, Ren Xiaowang, deputy mayor of Liaocheng, which administers the county, said authorities in Shandong offered incentives to support the industry, with subsidies ranging from 1,200 yuan for one donkey to up to 300,000 yuan for 1,000 donkeys.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as:
Thinning herd on agenda for world’s top donkey minds

[GeneChing]

The price of eternal youth: Protected frogs are DRIED TO DEATH so shops can make traditional Chinese medicine that's supposed to help women 'look beautiful'
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Hasma, a popular medicinal food in China, is made with frogs' fallopian tubes
The frogs are dried to death so their tubes could be taken at the 'highest quality'
The best Hasma is produced in north-east China from a rare type of wild frogs
Hasma is rich in protein and can supposedly improve women's skin condition
By Tiffany Lo For Mailonline
PUBLISHED: 04:41 EST, 17 November 2017 | UPDATED: 08:18 EST, 17 November 2017

Sometimes, beauty comes with a very hefty price.

In China, protected wild frogs are being cruelly killed so traditional Chinese medicine vendors could turn them into a popular 'anti-ageing' food ingredient.

Hasma, or known as 'xue ha gao' in Chinese, is made with the fallopian tubes of dried-up female frogs and is supposed to help consumers look young.


Cruel: Hundreds of Asiatic grass frogs are hung and dried to death in Jilin, north-east China


Dried to death: Asiatic grass frogs, once captured, are hung up for up to 30 days until they die

The best hasma is made in the north-eastern part of China and comes from Asiatic grass frogs, a protected amphibian species from the forest in the region under the Regulation on Protection of Wild Medicinal Resources.

Shocking pictures have emerged from Chinese media, capturing the production process of the popular medicinal food ingredient.

The photos are taken in Changbai mountain, Jilin Province, on November 7.

They show two full racks of frogs being hung up in front of a common grocery shop. The retailer pierced the frogs by a wire and hung them up until their death.

After the animals are killed, their collagen-filled tubes would be removed from their remains and put on sale in the shop. Their remains are thrown to the bin.

The shop owner told a reporter from iFeng.com: 'The hanging method can ensure that the hasma can be extracted at its best quality.'

Hasma (pictured) is usually sold in boxes in grocery stores or Chinese medicine shops


It's often cooked and eaten as Chinese dessert along with sugar and dried fruits (pictured)

Chen Jianping, an associate professor from the School of Chinese Medicine at University of Hong Kong told HK Economic Times: 'Pure hasma should be made from the fallopian tubes of female Asiatic grass frogs.

'However today, the hasma (on the market) might contain fallopian tubes, ovary or fat tissues from any frog families.'

In addition to the air-drying process, extra steps are apparently taken to the frogs in order to produce the best hasma.

According to Pixpo, when the frogs are captured they are cruelly knocked out with electricity before being hung up for about 20 to 30 days until they die.

Female Asiatic grass frog store rich nutrients in their oviducts before they hibernate in winter


Two full racks of frogs are hung up in front of a grocery shop in north-east China

The same Pixpo report said female Asiatic grass frogs have rich nutrients in their fallopian tubes. The tubes, which contain high protein and oestrogen. In winter when the frogs hibernate, the nutrients become a vital source of energy for the animals.

Hasma has become a precious health supplement for Chinese women, and can be dated back to Ben Cao Gang Mu, a 16th century Chinese herbology masterpiece written by legendary herbologist Li Shizhen.

In particular, pregnant woman believe hasma could help them achieve wrinkle-free skin. In addition, it's thought that hasma could boost women's energy level and stop them from feeling tired during pregnancy.


Hasma is considered as a precious health supplement that are favoured by Chinese women

Regina Lo, 48, a mother of two from Hong Kong, told MailOnline that she consumed hasma as a health supplement during her pregnancy in 2002.

'I used to have it once every week, boil them and pour in milk or sugar and eat it as dessert,' she said.

However, she said she did not experience any obvious change.

'I didn't see any difference, but psychologically I felt my skin got smoother and more glowing.'


Chinese medicine doctors said that hasma has high protein, vitamins and oestrogen


Female grass frogs were hung on wires for 20 to 30 days before being dissected for hasma

Professor Cui Hequan from Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine said hasma contains very high medical value, according to a People's Daily Online report.

'Hasma contains high collagen and amino acid which could help consumers get better metabolism, thus it could regenerate new skin and make women look youthful.

'It can also help balance the hormones and boost energy level.'

Professor Cui said hasma is suitable for pregnant woman who wish to provide extra nutrients to their babies, accelerate recovery from child birth and improve their skin condition.

According to The Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, published by the Ministry of Health, hasma can cure people who suffer from cough, sweating and insomnia.

The report recommended the food to people who have weaker health.

However, Dr Sun Lihong, a professor from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine said though hasma could beautify the skin, eating too much of it might put the consumers under the risk of cancer.

Dr Sun told a reporter from Yangtze Evening News: 'Medicinal foods of animal origin, such as hasma and propolis (a resinous substance produced by bees), we have to be cautious.'

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[GeneChing]

Elderly couple try to take 200 live cockroaches onto flight for use in medicinal skin cream
BY ALEX LINDER IN NEWS ON NOV 29, 2017 10:00 PM



On Saturday, workers at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport happened to notice something unusual inside of a container that had been put through the X-ray machine at one of the airport's pre-flight security checkpoints.
When they opened the container up to see what exactly was inside, out scuttled a cockroach, scaring one poor female worker.



However, things only got worse upon further inspection. Inside the container they found a white plastic bag that was filled with around 200 live cockroaches, Knews reports.
The container's owners turned out to be an elderly couple. The old man explained that his wife had a skin condition and that the cockroaches were for a kind of traditional folk remedy. He said that the roaches were all mixed into some medicinal cream which was then rubbed on his wife's skin.
Unfortunately for the woman, security did not allow them to carry a bucket full of live cockroaches onto their flight. The roaches were all left behind at the checkpoint with staff -- who we now presume have flawless skin.
You might remember how just last month more than 100 cockroaches were mysteriously discovered on board two separate flights that landed at the Kunming airport. Authorities failed to explain how or why the roaches got there, but we may now finally have our reason. TCM!
[Images via Knews]

weird stuff - smuggling fail