It's Still a Bear Market

Wild bears, notably in Asia and North America, are slaughtered for their gallbladders and paws, the carcasses left behind since they are of no great value to the poachers who peddle these animal parts on the black market. In Asia, bears are crammed into barren cages barely big enough for their furry bodies, only to be entombed for life while their bile seeps into a pan below. The trade in bear parts is a cruel commerce that is horrible for the individual animals and dangerous for the bear species targeted to supply this lucrative market.

An iron corset used to restrain bears during bile extraction lies on a cold concrete floor in front of entombing bear cages. (WSPA)

Two new reports highlight the ongoing threat that Asian demand for bear parts and products poses to the species across the globe. The Singapore-based Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), in collaboration with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), did an in-depth examination of The Trade in Bear Gall Bladder and Bile Products in Singapore.

The ACRES investigators selected 68 traditional medicine shops in Singapore and found that 50, or 74%, of them illegally sold bear gallbladders or bile products. These products included intact gallbladders, bile crystals, pills made from bile, bear bile powder, and claws. Many of these shopkeepers knew they were selling an illegal product. Imported bear parts and products were claimed to have been from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, and Nepal.

Similar dire news of the availability and commercialization of bear products comes out of Japan where the Japan Wildlife Conservation Society (JWCS), also supported by WSPA, has published Japan's Illegal Trade in Bear Products: A Threat to Bears Worldwide. The JWCS team notes that bear bile as a medicine in Japan dates as far back as the Heian era at the end of the eighth century. JWCS researchers found that of 128 traditional medicine pharmacies surveyed, 98, or 77%, dealt in some form of bear parts. They found a diverse pricing structure in which the more expensive bear gallbladder comes from Japan, Tibet, and China and can sell for as much as $83 per gram. Less expensive products include polar bear galls and come from China and Russia.

JWCS concludes that Southeast Asia, Russia, North America, and the Himalayan region are the main supply sources for bear parts in Japan and "that there is a significant international illegal trade in bear gall and bile."

This snapshot of the illicit global commerce in bear parts paints a grim picture indeed. Demand remains high and seems to be increasing; suppliers continue to make large profits by fulfilling the market demand; and governments across the globe are either unwilling to crack down on this trade in earnest or lack sufficient financial resources to combat the trade successfully through a strong wildlife law enforcement presence.

International cooperation is vital. Parties to CITES have spoken out on the conservation of bears already when they passed a Resolution on the subject in 1997. The Resolution wisely calls for all nations to enact legislation to control the illegal bear parts trade and ensure that penalties are sufficiently strong to deter the trade. CITES also has tried repeatedly to get Parties to provide information on bear populations as well as levels of poaching and illegal trade. CITES must stand firm on the issue of bear conservation. Parties still should be urged to mount a legal assault against the profiteers who drive the killing of bears for their parts-both in the wild and in cages. Without this concerted effort, the only question will be: "Which bear species will go extinct first?"