Restaurant owner busted with bear parts

[JDArms1240]

Don’t know if this has been posted yet, OR if this is the proper place.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/newsroom/news-release/skagit-county-woman-sentenced-wildlife-trafficking

Kinda funny to me to think that it wouldn’t even cross my mind to try to sell a bear paw or let alone a gall bladder to someone.  And here this lady is with a whole pile of ‘em!

[Boss .300 winmag]

https://amp.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/crime/article312118618.html

[JDArms1240]

I kind of understood the paws, but what why would anyone want a bear’s gall bladder!?!? 🤨 So I had to google this one.  Apparently it’s used in traditional medicine in various Asian countries, but more surprisingly is what they sell for over there!  Per Google:

“Asia: Depending on the location and whether the bear was wild or captive, prices vary widely.

South Korea: As of 2019, a wild bear gallbladder could sell for around $10,000. In 1994, traditional Chinese medicine doctors reported willingness to pay between $1,000 and $18,000.

China: Bile powder from captive bears was priced at approximately $3 per gram in 2011.

Japan: The price for powdered bile averaged $153 per gram in 2011.”

That’s wild to me.

[dilleytech]

Seems like a victimless crime. Assuming bears aren’t being killed just to have certain parts stripped. My Chinese friends go Crazy for Bear paws.

[Southpole]

Big surprise, she’s Asian   

[Ridgeratt]

why do you think the largest buyer of deer and elk horns usually are bought by Asian buyers. If my memory is any good, there was a group of folks just killing bears for their feet and just taking the galls.

[Shrimper]

Sounds like Operation Cody

[HntnFsh]

That was my thought!

[Bareback]

Sounds like Operation Cody

This sounds like a chapter right out of Todd’s books. Next chapter, supplier/potential poacher.