Koreans suspected of poaching Bear parts

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Koreans Suspected of Poaching Bear Parts

 

The Korea Daily, News Report,

By Taek-Soo Cho, translated by Kapson Lee, Jan 29, 2004

 

At least 100 Koreans will be prosecuted for illegally poaching bear

parts from national parks

in Virginia and selling the parts for use in traditional Asian health

remedies in several

states, reports the Korea Daily in Los Angeles.

 

Bear body parts such as the gall bladder, foot

soles, and skin are

considered panaceas in traditional Asian

medicine. The parts were

sold to distributors in Korean American

communities in California,

Maryland, New York, North Carolina, and

Virginia, or smuggled to

Korea, said Herb Foster with the Virginia's

Department of Game and

Inland Fisheries, who led a three-year

investigation released earlier

this month. He said that body parts were sold at

prices ranging from

$1,000 to $5,000 and sales topped $4 million.

 

Foster said his team obtained evidence of the illegal hunting and sales

by operating decoy

sportswear shops near Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, where 60

investigators worked

for three years.

 

During the investigation, they uncovered smuggling routes and as a

result, the team will

expand their work not only to Koreatown stores in U.S. cities, but to

Korea, Foster said.

 

Virginia law, which prohibits both poaching and selling of animal parts,

can penalize a

violator to a maximum of five years imprisonment or a $2,500 fine. Under

federal law, the

maximum penalty is a $250,000 fine or a five-year sentence. Each suspect

will be charged

with three violations: poaching, illegal sales, and illegal use of

firearms, with each count

subject to a maximum $10,000 fine. The federal laws on poaching apply to

both sellers and

buyers.

 

In California, where some parks allow bear-hunting with certain

limitations, as many as 300

Koreans, including 100 from Los Angeles are known to regularly go on

expeditions. The most

popular hunting grounds are Yosemite National Park and parks near

Redding, Calif.

 

It is believed that some legal hunters sell parts of bears they bag on

expeditions to Korean

distributors. The California Fish and Game Commission prohibits the sale

of bear parts.

 

The expeditions are usually led by hunting guides or hunting clubs based

in gun-shops.

 

Additionally, in what is called “luxury hunting,” professional guides,

usually non-Koreans,

charge $1,000 per person for outings. Using trained dogs, they corral

bears and help the

hunters complete their trip in one day.

 

In Los Angeles there are also two or three elite clubs that help

organize expeditions that

cost $2,000 per person.

 

--

Dave Neale

Animals Asia Foundation

 

Find out more about the historic China Bear Rescue by visiting the

Animals Asia Foundation website at http://www.animalsasia.org