The South Korean Market for Bear Gall Bladders
Bear parts have been used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for centuries. The bile stored in the gallbladders of bears is the only bear product commonly found in Chinese 'materia medica' today. Results of a regional TRAFFIC investigation in East Asia in 1995 fuelled concerns that trade in bear gallbladders may continue to place pressure on declining wild bear populations. One country in the region is highlighted here: the Republic of (South) Korea.
By J.A. MILLS, T.S. KANG, S. LEE, R. PARRY-JONES, AND M. PHIPPS
TCM doctors prescribe bear bile to treat illnesses ranging from liver cancer (Mills and Servheen, 1991) to haemorrhoids to conjunctivitis (Bensky and Gamble, 1993). A particular bile acid found in bear bile (ursodeoxycholic acid, or UDCA) has been both synthesized and medically proven to be effective in treating numerous human illnesses, including gallstones (Mills and Servheen, 1991), hepatitis, and cirrhosis (Sano, 1995).In August 1996, TRAFFIC East Asia conducted a follow-up survey in China, Hong Kong, The Republic of Korea, and Taiwan. The findings of this investigation indicate that Asian demand for bear gallbladders and bile remains strong. The demand for bear gallbladders and bile as medicine is particularly worrisome in relation to Asia's bear species, most of which are listed in CITES Appendix I. These include the Asiatic Black Bear Ursus thibetanus, the Brown Bear Ursus arctos populations of Bhutan, China, and Mongolia, the Sun Bear Helarctos malayanus, and the Sloth Bear Melursus ursinus.
The situation is complicated and differs from country to country. Here we focus on The Republic of Korea, the country that will host the third international symposium on trade in bear parts at the end of this year. The outcome of this symposium will be presented in the next IIAS Newsletter.
Drowning
TRAFFIC's 1995 findings, coupled with various law enforcement cases involving South Koreans trading illegally in bear gallbladders, indicate that Koreans remain dedicated consumers of bear gallbladders. The survey showed that, while availability of bear gallbladders had decreased in Korea since Mills and Servheen (1991), prices there already the highest in the world in 1991 had risen significantly. In addition, farmed bear bile from China was openly for sale in Seoul.
In July 1996, five South Koreans (one tour guide and four tourists) visiting Thailand were arrested and later convicted in Thailand of illegally killing six bears near the Myanmar border. The tour guide received a custodial sentence, and the tourists were fined from US$600-US$800.
The following month, a TRAFFIC investigator interviewed a Korean tour guide who was based in Bangkok in 1995 to assist South Korean tourists visiting Thailand. The guide alleged that approximately 10% of the 360 000 South Koreans visiting Thailand at that time consumed bear meat and/or bear parts during their visits. They reportedly paid from US$ 7,500 to US$ 9,000 for live bears, which were killed by drowning. According to the guide, illegal hunting trips were arranged for South Korean tourists once or twice each year near the border with Myanmar. He reported that there are eight Korean traditional medicine shops in Bangkok where bear gallbladders are ground into powder, mixed with other ingredients and packed in capsules for ease of smuggling. The accuracy of these claims is still subject to investigation by TRAFFIC. At US$107 per gram in Bangkok, bear bile is less than one-quarter the price in Korea.
While the Korea's Management Authority has allowed the legal import of 66 kg of Appendix II bear gallbladders in 1996, Korean Customs officials confiscated 122 kg of what were claimed to be bear gallbladders, from the luggage of travellers entering the Korea in 1996. In 1995, Korean Customs seized 55 kg of bear gallbladders and 82 kg in 1994.
Registration
The Republic of Korea withdrew its reservation on CITES Appendix-II bears on 25 September 1996, with effect from 6 October 1996 (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland, in litt., 8 October 1996). In addition, the Association of Korean Oriental Medicine (AKOM) has gone on record as saying that the Korean Government must control the smuggling of bear gallbladders and stop their use for frivolous purposes (K.S. Kim, pers. comm., July 1996).
Around the same time, Korea's Ministry of Environment hosted a meeting of ten governmental agencies and seven relevant organizations to discuss the involvement of Korean nationals in illegal international trade in bear gallbladders. Participants concluded that the Republic of Korea needs to strengthen its control of illegal trade in bear gallbladders and increase public awareness of the problem.
At TRAFFIC's suggestion, the Korean Government and AKOM sent a delegation to Hong Kong to learn more about Hong Kong's registration system for bear gallbladders. The CITES Management Authority in the Republic of Korea is currently considering adoption of a system similar to that in Hong Kong, which licenses and tags bear gallbladders imported with proper CITES permits. *
Recommendations
The Government of the Republic of Korea should, as a matter of urgency:
give stiff penalties to South Korean citizens caught smuggling bear gallbladders and bile, in addition to confiscation of their contraband;
implement a bear gallbladder registration system that will ensure that any gallbladder sold within Korea is derived from legal sources;
train Government laboratories in the technology to test the authenticity of new stocks of gallbladders entering the South Korean market;
adopt the use of X-ray machines and/or sniffer dogs to detect bear gallbladders being smuggled in the luggage of travellers entering Korea;
inform all travellers leaving Korea of the domestic and international laws regulating the trade in bear bile and bear gallbladders, using pamphlets, airline ticket jackets and/or in-flight videos as a means of communication;
consider using Government television broadcasts to dissuade illegal trafficking in bears, bear gallbladders, and their derivatives;
encourage similar public awareness activities in bear range states favoured by South Korean tourists.
References
Bensky, D. and A. Gamble
Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica
Seattle: Eastland Press, Inc., 1993
Mills, J.A. and C. Servheen
The Asian Trade In Bears And Bear Parts
Washington: World Wildlife Fund Inc., 1991
Sano, M.
'Ursodeoxycholic Acid Is Not Only
A Substitute For Bear Bile
In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Trade of Bear Parts for Medicinal Use, Washington: TRAFFIC USA, 1995
TRAFFIC is a joint programme by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and The World Conservation Union (IUCN). Its purpose is to help ensure that wildlife trade is at sustainable levels and in accordance with domestic laws and agreements. This is achieved through the investigation, monitoring and reporting of such trade, particularly that which is detrimental to the survival of flora and fauna and that which is illegal.
CITES: Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna
This is an abstract of a paper that was originally published in the TRAFFIC bulletin 16:3, 1997. A copy of the full-length article can be obtained from:
TRAFFIC INTERNATIONAL
Fax: +44-1223-277 237
E-mail: traffic@trafficint.org.