Bear Matters BC

Although there is a lucrative underground market for black bear parts, recent Yukon poachers are only being sought for shooting a black bear and leaving it, intact, for dead.
Conservation officer Tony Grabowski confirmed to the Star today that a black bear was shot, then abandoned between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. last Wednesday.
The incident occurred eight km east of Carmacks along the Robert Campbell Highway. The bear died, turning the matter into an illegal poaching investigation.
The person or persons responsible face a maximum $50,000 fine and maximum one-year jail sentence under section 161 of the Yukon Wildlife Act.
On a North American scale, Grabowski said, bear poaching and the trafficking of bear parts have become a significant problem. Its impact has also been felt in the Yukon.
“We have had reports of a bear carcass being found with its paws and gall bladder missing,” he said.
Bear parts are in high demand around the world, especially for use in traditional Chinese medicine.
Nearly every part of the bear has medicinal use as a cure or treatment, and bear paws are considered a dining delicacy in some parts of the world.
The gall bladder is the bear’s most valuable part, as it is used to treat an array of illnesses including fever, swelling, cancers, burns, internal bleeding, ulcers, pain, heart and liver disease.
Poachers found to have illegally poached a black bear to sell off its parts, face a penalty of $100,000 and up to two years in jail.
This recent poaching situation is especially troubling, as the bear was killed and left untouched, said Grabowski.
“It was a total waste in this case,” he said.
The Yukon is home to about 10,000 black bears. While removing one from the population may seem insignificant, Grabowski said, the principle is not.
“There are laws in place to govern hunting,” he said. “When one is taken outside of the law, it could eventually be a conservation concern.”
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada does not currently have black bears listed as an endangered species.
Black bear hunting is legal in the Yukon, although annual limits are set and harvest fees and exporting rules apply.
“The persons involved, you wonder, what’s to stop them from doing this each year, just shooting a bear and leaving it there? These people need to be apprehended.”
Grabowski is asking anyone with information to contact his or her local conservation officer, or to call the anonymous Turn In Poachers (TIP) line at 1-800-661-0525. Cash rewards are available.
The territory has nine conservation officers, and they cannot be expected to solve all poaching incidences single-handedly, Grabowski said.
“The conservation officers can’t do it alone. The folks that poach need to be dealt with.”