2,800 Asian bears traded illegally in last decade: TRAFFIC

At least 2,800 bears, including 23 in India, were traded in Asia for their parts over the past decade to meet the rising demand for bile used in traditional medicines, a new report shows.
A study by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, analysed closed to 700 seizures and reported that a minimum of 2,801 individual bears would have been traded for their parts and derivatives between 2000 and 2011.
The majority of seizures were reported from Cambodia (190), China (145), Vietnam (102), Russia (59), Malaysia (38), Thailand (29), Lao PDR (29) and India (23).
Important cross border trade routes identified by TRAFFIC include Nepal to India, Lao PDR to Vietnam and China, Myanmar to China and Thailand and Vietnam to Japan and Singapore.

"Where enforcement of laws protecting bears is taken seriously, it can be a tremendous deterrent," said Chris Shepherd, TRAFFIC chief for Southeast Asia.
Bears are traded for a wide range of reasons including live bears to stock bile farms and for the pet or dancing bear trade.

Bears are also trafficked for their parts, meat, skin and trophies while their gall bladders and bile are used to manufacture traditional medicines.
The cross-border trade in live bears, and their parts and derivatives violates national laws throughout the region as well as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), TRAFFIC said.

Russia and China alone accounted for 69 per cent of the trade volume equating to a minimum of 1,934 bears, primarily due to the seizure of over 6,000 bear paws.
Such significant seizures in Russia along the border with China suggest a prolific trade in bears and their parts between the two countries, TRAFFIC said.
The confiscation of live bears accounted for 15 per cent of all seizures, making it the second most commonly seized commodity after paws.
Significant source countries for live bears included Cambodia and Viet Nam.
Live bears seized from border provinces in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Thailand were potentially en-route to bear bile extraction facilities, commonly referred to as bear farms.

Significant numbers of gall bladders, commonly used as traditional medicine were also seized.
The demand for medicines containing bear bile in Asia is high, driving the trade, and playing a role in the decline of bears in many parts of the Asian region.