Black Bear Study Finds Growing Populations, But Combating Illegal Trade Remains a Challenge

4/30/2002

From: Jan Vertefeuille of the World Wildlife Fund, 202-861-8362

WASHINGTON, April 30 -- American black bear populations appear to be stable or increasing across most of their North American range, a decade-long TRAFFIC study finds. But in many jurisdictions, further action is needed to address poaching, illegal trade, and monitoring of legal hunting in order to fully protect black bears.

The study by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring program of World Wildlife Fund and IUCN-The World Conservation Union, was compiled from responses to a detailed set of survey questions submitted to wildlife management agencies at the state, provincial, and territorial level in the United States and Canada. The study covers a period of nearly 10 years, and provides a comprehensive, long-term look at black bear population trends in North America.

Among the good news the study reveals is that the estimated black bear population in the United States grew by some 25 to 35 percent during the survey period, from roughly 253,000-375,000 in 1988 to an estimated 339,000-465,000 in the mid-1990s. During the same overall period, Canada's black bear population estimate increased from 372,500-382,500 to 396,000-476,000. Black bear populations in Mexico remain difficult to assess because of the lack of available data. The study also notes that some populations, such as the Louisiana black bear subspecies, remain threatened.

"American black bears are doing well throughout most of their current range," said Craig Hoover, deputy director of TRAFFIC North America. "On the whole, wildlife management authorities responsible for black bear conservation should receive credit and acclamation for this success."

However, the TRAFFIC surveys found that in many states, laws and regulations to address poaching, illegal trade, and monitoring of hunting and commercial activities involving bears could be improved. Bear parts continue to be in demand, especially the gallbladders and paws, which are used in Asian markets as medicine and food. Illegal killings continue to be reported throughout the black bear's range, though there is no indication that the number of bears involved threatens the overall status of the species. States, provinces, and territories have tightened restrictions on trade in recent years, with a growing number banning the sale of gallbladders and other parts. Yet four U.S. states (Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa) and one Canadian province (Prince Edward Island) have no laws governing the bear trade.

"Wildlife agencies and legislative bodies need to close the existing legislative and regulatory gaps in current black bear management efforts," Hoover said. "Fortunately, because of the relative health of North America's bear populations, we have the opportunity to take action before there is indication of a crisis, such as an increase in poaching pressure. But action is clearly needed and this positive news should not dictate complacency."

Among the key findings of the TRAFFIC survey:

-- Black bears are found in 41 U.S. states and 12 Canadian provinces and territories, although their numbers are concentrated in northern and western regions of the United States and southern regions of Canada. Little information is available about the status of black bears in Mexico, although a Mexican federal committee established in 2000 may help with obtaining data.

-- The number of black bears legally hunted in the United States and Canada increased during the overall survey period, from approximately 40,000 bears per year in 1992 to 40,000-50,000 in the mid-1990s.

-- Legal and illegal markets for black bears and black bear parts exist in North America and overseas, with some of these in Asia and others in Asian communities in North America. The sale of black bear gallbladders and paws is illegal in most of North America, although the sale of hides is far less restricted. Bear parts are used for various purposes, including traditional Asian medicine (gallbladders are believed to reduce fever and treat various liver ailments), food, souvenirs, jewelry, trophies and taxidermy, as well as in Native American ceremonies. Live bears are used in zoos, wildlife parks, and other collections or displays.

-- Illegal hunting remains poorly documented, with some jurisdictions not maintaining careful records of arrests, convictions, and seizures of black bear parts. In some cases, incidents of black bear poaching are not recorded separately from those involving other species, which makes it difficult or impossible to determine how many reported poaching cases involve black bears.

-- Requiring hunters to report the take of black bears to management authorities is nearly universal in the United States. TRAFFIC further found that little effort is made during the reporting process to determine the extent to which gallbladders and other parts from legally hunted bears might be entering trade. Most jurisdictions use reporting requirements simply to record the age and sex of the animals for research and management purposes or to determine when hunting quotas have been met.

Among TRAFFIC's recommendations:

-- Every state, province, and territory should have a clear statute that directly addresses the issue of trade in bear parts. TRAFFIC urges jurisdictions without such laws to avoid being inadvertent consumers or conduits in the bear trade, by passing laws to either ban trade or allow wildlife authorities to monitor and regulate it. In addition, all states, provinces, and territories that allow trade should review their statutes to determine if they are adequate to detect and deter illegal sale of parts.

-- All states that allow black bear hunting should require reporting of kills to wildlife management authorities. They should also consider surveying hunters to determine the ultimate disposition of the bears and their parts. By making a few changes to existing reporting systems and asking hunters to provide more information, wildlife authorities could help fill a large gap in understanding what happens to the parts of the 40,000-50,000 black bears taken legally each year.

-- States, provinces, and territories should earmark revenues from bear hunting licenses and big game permits specifically for bear conservation and management programs. Such a step could create a steady stream of funding for priority bear conservation activities, especially in jurisdictions with large numbers of bear hunters.

-- Jurisdictions should develop more consistent and severe penalties for the sale of bear parts to ensure that they pose a significant deterrent to illegal hunting and commercialization. Every state, province, and territory should adopt criminal statutes with provisions to make illegal commercialization a felony and adopt penalties that include either steep minimum fines or a fixed mandatory penalty significantly higher than the value of illegally traded bear parts, as well as jail sentences that serve as genuine deterrents.

-- Every jurisdiction should, at a minimum, require the sealing or tagging of black bear gallbladders (whether their sale is legal or not), with records kept in a computer database accessible to federal, state, provincial, and territorial wildlife management authorities, to make it much more difficult to "launder" gallbladders across jurisdictional lines.

--- Note to editors: A copy of the TRAFFIC report, "In the Black: Status, Management, and Trade of the American Black Bear in North America," can be downloaded at www.worldwildlife.org/news or at www.traffic.org.