"At the heart of Operation SOUP are concerns about an international problem that has a toehold in Virginia. The bear gall bladder trade is a worldwide industry driven by the demand for its use in traditional Asian medicine.... The serious decline in the Asian black bear population has led to the American black bear being targeted for this trade."
- Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries

by Adam Roberts

In 1998 alone, cases concerning bear poaching and the parts trade surfaced from coast to coast across America: arrests made in a number of states including Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, and Maryland. Unfortunately, 1999 began right where the previous year had left off. In January, a huge bust was made as a result of a three-year joint undercover operation by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service into illegal bear hunting and commercialization of black bear parts.

"Operation SOUP" (Special Operation to Uncover Poaching) has resulted in the arrests of over two dozen individuals for more than 110 wildlife violations. According to the VDGIF, this "is expected to yield one of the largest prosecutions in the nation's history relating to bear poaching and illegal trade in bear parts." The Department not only investigated the sale of bear claws and teeth used in the jewelry trade, but also the trafficking in bear gallbladders and frozen paws. VDGIF's conclusion: "This aspect of the investigation has confirmed that significant trade in gall bladders and bear paws out of Virginia exists, including bears from within and around Shenandoah National Park."

High praise should go out to the dedicated state and federal wildlife law enforcement officers who broke up this unscrupulous ring of bear poachers and wildlife traders.

As readers of the AWI Quarterly know, bears worldwide are targeted for their gallbladders and bile which can fetch exorbitant prices on the black market in Asia and Asian communities across the United States. A significant international effort is underway, spearheaded by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF), to encourage the traditional medicine community to promote and exclusively use ingredients in their medicinal remedies which are not derived from threatened or endangered animals including any of the eight remaining bear species.

According to IFAW and AAF, many traditional medicine practitioners and proponents have already come to this conclusion. Dr. Ho Ka Cheong, President of the Hong Kong Chinese Herbalist Association claims: "Herbal alternatives have the same effect – so why use animals?" Dr. Sun Ji Xian of the Chinese Association of Preventative Medicine in Beijing, China contends: "I choose not to use bear bile and go to the trouble of replacing it, because I believe animals should not suffer."

However, one must address the supply side of the equation as well as the demand. Part of the problem in the United States, for example, is that some states prohibit sale of bear parts, others allow it, and still others allow sale as long as the bear was killed somewhere else. This creates an incentive to poach bears in one state, smuggle the gallbladders and bile to a state where such sale is legal or to another country, and sell the bear parts (or products derived from them) under false pretenses.

Although the facts in the Operation SOUP case are still unfolding , it is likely that the alleged perpetrators were attempting to exploit this existing "patchwork" of state laws. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, a Virginia newspaper, the accused come from Virginia, West Virginia, and New Mexico. While Virginia and New Mexico prohibit commercialization of bear parts, West Virginia does not; this may be all the incentive that poachers and dealers need to take Virginia bears illegally and attempt to sell their parts by laundering them through a neighboring state such as West Virginia.

One way to close this enforcement loophole and protect bears from being decimated to supply the global bear parts trade is a uniform prohibition on commercialization of bear parts nationwide. Such legislation, the "Bear Protection Act," was introduced in the US Senate on May 24, 1999 by Senator Mitch McConnell (R, KY). A House version to be sponsored by Congressman John Porter (R, IL) is expected soon. The Senate bill, S.1109, was introduced with a remarkable bipartisan list of 40 original cosponsors. One reason for Senator McConnell's interest in this vital conservation legislation is that, in his words, "We cannot stand by and allow our own bear population to be decimated by poachers."

The Bear Protection Act simply would prohibit the import, export, and interstate commerce in bear gallbladders and bile as well as products that contain, or claim to contain, such bear viscera. Not only would passage of the bill help facilitate wildlife law enforcement here in the United States, but it would also enable the US to continue its leadership role in the global conservation community.

At the most recent meeting of the Standing Committee to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the CITES Secretariat presented a discussion paper on bears. The document specifically referred to the existing legislative loopholes in many bear range states and consuming countries:

"The Secretariat believes that opportunities exist for confusion by some Parties where internal trade controls are weaker than import or export controls. In a similar manner, differences in national, federal, state or provincial laws allow for confusion and enforcement difficulties, for example, where bear gall bladders trade is permitted on a domestic market but import or export is banned. Although this is essentially a domestic issue for Parties, it undoubtedly contributes to the availability of specimens that can subsequently reach international trade." (emphasis added)

The Bear Protection Act's uniform prohibition on import, export and internal interstate commerce would help all Parties avoid this enforcement confusion. Hopefully, with passage of the bill, potential poachers and smugglers will be dissuaded from attempting to poach bears and illegally commercialize bear parts.

Until then, it's good to know that state fish and game departments such as the one in Virginia are determined participants in the effort to bring unethical wildlife traffickers to justice. William Woodfin, VDGIF Director, had it exactly right when he told The Washington Post: "If you don't watch this situation, and keep your finger on the pulse, you can quickly look at it and say, 'Where did [the bears] all go?' We have an obligation to future generations to make sure the black bear will be here for them to enjoy.

- February 27, 1999   Save Virginia's Bears THE THOUGHT of human predators, also known as poachers, operating in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains ought to be enough to mobilize wildlife lovers, guardians of the nation's forests and people who want nature's treasures preserved for future generations. This time the poachers' trophy is the black bear. They are hunting down this sometimes large, mostly shy creature for the worst of reasons: to serve a predominantly foreign market interested not in the bear's meat or fur but its claws, paws and gallbladder. Even as unrestrained hunting and spreading development are decimating bear populations in other parts of the world, poachers – working through hustlers or middlemen – have set their sights on North America to supply Asian markets, where bear parts can fetch thousands of dollars. And what better state to target than Virginia, where it is legal to hunt and kill bears. It matters not that the black bear – unlike its grizzly and polar counterpart – cares little for human confrontation. Virginia's bears are beingbagged and whacked to pieces big time. Law enforcement officials seized about 300 gallbladders and arrested 25 people in the most recent investigation, The Post reported this week. Meanwhile, the bears continue to be hunted and trapped by sneak thieves eager to cash in on illicit trafficking of organs prized as medicinal remedies in some Asian cultures. The medicinal trade in wild animals and plants already has endangered several species around the globe. Without a law prohibiting bear hunting, as in Maryland, and without increased vigilance and enforcement of a state law halting the sale of a bear's body parts, as in Virginia and most states, the American black bear will be added to that list. Virginia wildlife officials and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should be given the resources, including trained staff, to wage aggressive war against poachers. The black bear is a treasure. Too strong a word? Imagine if all the bears were gone.

AWI Quarterly, Spring 1999, Vol. 48, No. 2 p. 8-9