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The Bear Facts - General bear information
                 and issues

Bears and People - the downside

A variety of interactions, good and bad, has been taking place between bears and humans for thousands of years. Here is a sample.

Bearing Up for the Future
Six of the eight bear species are decreasing in numbers and range while the human population as well as its resource demands are increasing. Bears and humans have similar habitat preferences, that is, valley floors, fertile soils and easy access.
The future of the world's bear population relies on better management of people (not bears) as it is the humans that are causing the decline of wild bears. There has to be a better balance between bear and human needs. Humans can no longer continue to take what they want at the expense of the bear populations around the world.
Incentives for change need to be provided for people who live with bears so that the economic value of bears is no longer based on slaughter. Compensation payments should be provided for damage caused by bears, such as, the loss of livestock, bee hives and fruit crops. Bears are often killed by farmers to protect their livestock and crops.
The unnecessary degradation of bear habitats must be stopped. This can be achieved by controlling human access into important bear areas, limiting or eliminating human activities in some areas and re- aligning roads so they avoid bear habitats.
The number of bear reserves should be increased.
Research on the co-existence of bears and humans should be encouraged.
People need to be educated so they have a better understanding of bears and their importance in the world as wild animals.
Hunting must be carefully managed and be compatible with bear populations and habitat. Baiting should be eliminated.
Regulations and laws must be strictly enforced.
Bears in a Bottle
An Asiatic black bear shot in South Korea in 1982 was sold for $18,500. It was shot for its gallbladder! A gallbladder was sold for $55, 000 in South Korea. Why?
The bile salts found within the gallbladder are a prized medicine. Dried bear gallbladders (which resemble large figs) can be seen displayed in Taipei, Hong Kong, and Singapore medicine districts. Black market vendors in the open air markets of China sell bear gallbladders by the kilo. Some wholesalers travel to North America to purchase their bear gallbladders fresh from bears killed while they watch.
The use of bear gallbladders for medicinal purposes dates back around 3,000 years. They are used to treat conditions such as cirrhosis of the liver, jaundice, high blood pressure, diabetes, severe burns, heart disease, hemorrhoids, eye infections, swellings from sprains and tooth decay.
The active ingredient in bear bile is ursodeoxycholic acid (ADCA). Although this ingredient is found in gallbladders of other mammals, it occurs in fairly large quantities in the gallbladders of bears.
Scientists in Japan have found a way to synthesize a substitute from cow bile and this is used by Western physicians today. This seems to be the answer to saving bears in the wild but the trade in gallbladders still threatens the survival of Asia's bear population.


Asiatic black bear cub (Ursus thibetanus)
Down on the Bear Farm
China, North Korea and South Korea are now farming bears for their bile in order to meet the needs of its traditional medicine industry. The bears on the farms are milked for their bile by placing a surgically implanted catheter into their gallbladders. As many as 8,000 bears live on these farms in China alone.
Although the milking process is not painful to the bears it is stressful due to the fact that the bears spend their entire lives in small cramped cages.
Chinese scientists are now spending time and money on researching how to increase productivity on these bear farms and have forgotten the needs of wild bears.
The demand for gallbladders from wild bears is still strong as some people believe the farmed bile to be inferior to that found in nature.
Better laws, more effective law enforcement and education are required to reduce the demand for bear gallbladders and save the Asian bear population.
Bear Soup
Bear paw is a delicacy on menus in China. Some Imperial Chinese cookbooks include recipes for stewed bear's paw and bear spare-rib casserole. These items on a menu are extremely expensive and therefore poachers can make money from killing bears and selling the various parts. In China bear paws sell for $10 - $80 each. Unless better laws are enforced to protect the Asian bear population they may lose their fight for survival.
Bear meat is sometimes eaten and it is believed to prevent colds, strengthen the body, provide relief from rheumatism and beri-beri. Paws, like the meat, are also considered to have medicinal properties.
Bears in Law Books
The Lacey Act
The Lacey Act is a federal law prohibiting transportation in interstate or foreign commerce of fish, wildlife or plants taken, possessed, sold or transported in violation of any state or foreign law, international treaty, U.S. regulation or Indian tribal law.
This act contains criminal penalty provisions of maximum fines of $20,000 and not more than 5 years imprisonment or both for person's who knowingly violate the act.

The Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act is a federal law that was enacted in 1973 to prevent the extinction of wild animals and plants. This act establishes 2 levels of protection for wildlife - species in danger of extinction: endangered- species likely to become endangered: threatened.
This act mandates that the federal government develop and carry out plans for the recovery of listed species. A species is only listed if the best scientific and commercial information available concludes that protection is necessary.
CITES - The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
CITES provides an international mechanism for the maintenance of biodiversity by protecting endangered species of wildlife and plants from over exploitation through international trade. The U.S has been a leader in international efforts to protect biodiversity since 1973.
CITES is the world's main way of protecting threatened and endangered wildlife from the disastrous effects of international trade. The CITES treaty involves trade restrictions for species listed in different Appendices, that is, Appendix I includes species in danger of extinction which are or may be affected by international trade. Commercial trade of such species is strictly prohibited. Appendix II includes species that may become endangered if their trade is not controlled. Commercial trade in these species is subject to regulation and is only allowed if permits are obtained stating that trade will not harm the species.
Differences in state laws makes the implementation of the CITES treaty difficult, for example, 25 states have legal black bear hunting, 10 states have no bear hunting and no sale of parts, 7 do not have legal hunting but allow the sale of parts which originate elsewhere and 8 have nor regulations specific to the trade of bear parts.
An interstate ban on commerce in bear viscera and a bear viscera import/export ban would close existing enforcement loopholes created by inconsistent state laws while also making sure that the U.S.A. no longer takes part in the disastrous international trade in bear parts.