TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, works to Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Trade in Bear Parts ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat Proceedings to the conservation of nature. It has offices covering most parts of the world and works in close co-operation with the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). For further information contact: TRAFFIC East Asia-Japan c/o WWF Japan Nihonseimei Akabanebashi Bldg. 6F 3-1-14 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0014, Japan Telephone: (81) 3 3769 1716 Fax: (81) 3 3769 1304 Email: [email protected] TRAFFIC International 219a Huntingdon Road th Cambridge CB3 0DL 4 United Kingdom Telephone: (44) 1223 277427 International Symposium Fax: (44) 1223 277237 Email: [email protected] on the Trade in Bear Parts Edited by: D. Williamson PROCEEDINGS of the FOURTH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE TRADE IN BEAR PARTS Nagano, Japan October 4th, 2006 Douglas F. Williamson, Editor Symposium organized by: TRAFFIC East Asia – Japan With support from WWF Japan WWF International Global Species Programme IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group Animals Asia Foundation TRAFFIC East Asia – Japan Published by TRAFFIC East Asia-Japan, 6th Fl. Nihonseimei Akabanebashi Bldg., 3-1-14, Shiba, Minato-ku, 105-0014 Tokyo, Japan. © 2007 TRAFFIC East Asia-Japan. All rights reserved. All material appearing in these proceedings is copyrighted and may be reproduced with permission. Any reproduction, in full or in part, of this publication must credit TRAFFIC East Asia-Japan as the copyright owner. The views of the authors expressed in these proceedings do not necessarily reflect those of any of the symposium sponsors, including the TRAFFIC Network, WWF or IUCN. The designations of geographical entities in this publication and the presentation of the materials do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of any of the symposium sponsors – including the TRAFFIC Network or its supporting organizations – concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The TRAFFIC symbol copyright and Registered Trademark ownership are held by WWF. TRAFFIC is a joint programme of WWF and IUCN. TRAFFIC is a UK registered charity no. 1076722. Suggested citation: Williamson, Douglas F. (ed.). 2007. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Trade of Bear Parts, 4 October, 2006, Nagano, Japan. TRAFFIC East Asia- Japan, Tokyo. ISBN 978-4-915613-17-3 TABLE OF CONTENTS AGENDA . ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . iv INTRODUCTION . 1 I. GLOBAL OVERVIEW Assessing the Status of the World’s Bears— What Can We Tell from the Trade in Bear Parts? David Garshelis, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Co-Chair, IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group . .6 II. TRADE, ENFORCEMENT, AND ASIAN BEAR POPULATIONS Bear Trade in Southeast Asia: The Status of Protection for Southeast Asia’s Bears Chris Shepherd, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia . 22 Management of Bears and Utilization of Bear Bile in Japan Nobuo Ishii, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University . 27 Bear Farming and Bear Conservation in China Huang Haikui, CITES Management Authority of China Li Zhi, CITES Management Authority of China . 37 Trade in Bears and Their Parts in India: Threats to Conservation of Bears Brij Kishor Gupta, Former Rescue Facility Manager, Agra Bear Rescue Facility Rohit Singh, Wildlife S O S Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder, Wildlife S O S Geeta Seshamani, Co-founder, Wildlife S O S . 50 Bear Parts Trade in Vietnam and Measures for Its Control Nguyen Xuan Dang, Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources . 61 Discussion Regarding the Impacts of Bear Bile Farming on Wild Bears in China and Vietnam Jill Robinson MBE, Animals Asia Foundation Gail Cochrane, BVMS, MRCVS Kati Loeffler, DVM, PhD . 67 III. DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS . 75 LIST OF CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS . 99 i AGENDA The Fourth International Symposium on Trade in Bear Parts – Asia Bear Trade – 4 October, 2006 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08:30 ~ 09:00 Registration 09:00 ~ 09:10 The Ministry of Environmet Welcome Speech 09:10 ~ 09:20 TRAFFIC East Asia Opening Remarks Facilitator of the sections: Douglas Williamson Section 1: GLOBAL OVERVIEW 09:20 ~ 9:40 David L. Garshelis (IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group) Assessing the Status of the World’s Bears— What Can We Tell from the Trade in Bear Parts? Section 2: TRADE, ENFORCEMENT, AND ASIAN BEAR POPULATIONS 9:40 ~ 10:00 Chris Shepherd (TRAFFIC Southeast) Bear Trade in Southeast Asia: The Status of Protection for Southeast Asia’s Bears 10:00 ~ 10:20 Nobuo Ishii (Tokyo Woman’s Christian University) Management of Bears and Utilization of Bear Bile in Japan 10:20 ~ 10:40 COFFEE BREAK 10:40 ~ 11:10 Huang Haikui (CITES Management Authority of Kunming, China) Bear Farming and Bear Conservation in China 11:10 ~ 11:30 Brij Kishor Gupta (Central Zoo Authority (Ministry of Environment & Forests, India)) Trade in Bears and Their Parts in India: Threats to Conservation of Bears 11:30 ~ 11:50 Nguyen Xuan Dang (Scientific Authority of Vietnam) Bear Parts Trade in Vietnam and Measures for Its Control ii 11:50 ~ 12:10 Jill Robinson (Animals Asia Foundation) Discussion Regarding the Impacts of Bear Bile Farming on Wild Bears in China and Vietnam 12:10 ~ 13:30 LUNCH Section 3: DISCUSSION - Does Trade Information Tell Us Anything About Wild Population - 13:30 ~ 15:30 All Participants 15:30 ~ 16:00 COFFEE BREAK Section 4: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 16:00 ~ 17:00 All Participants Section 5: CLOSING REMARKS 17:00 ~ 17:30 IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group/TRAFFIC Next steps and closing remarks iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TRAFFIC East Asia-Japan would like to thank the following for their financial contributions, which made the symposium possible: WWF-Japan, WWF International’s Global Species Programme and the Animals Asia Foundation. TRAFFIC East Asia-Japan wishes to thank the organizing committee members, including Akiko Ishihara, Joyce Wu, and Sean Lam from TRAFFIC East Asia and Chris Shepherd from TRAFFIC Southeast Asia for all their help in planning and organizing the symposium. The organizing committee thanks Dr. Chris Servheen for his advice in planning the symposium. Special thanks go to Tsugumi Saito, Reiko Matsumiya, and Kahoru Kanari for their assistance and endless efforts in organizing and coordinating the logistics of the symposium. We would like to thank WWF-Japan’s Conservation and Communication Divisions, particularly Hidenori Kusakari, Mouri Aiko, and Hisashi Okura, for their on-site assistance; and Nobuyuki Hatori and Haruko Ozaki for web design and financial expertise. Without their tremendous help, the symposium would never have been such a smooth event and great success. TRAFFIC East Asia-Japan extends special thanks to the following speakers for their contributions to the roundtable discussion and proceedings: Nguyen Xuan Dang, David Garshelis, Brij Kishor Gupta, Huang Haikui, Nobuo Ishii, Jill Robinson, Chris Shepherd, and Douglas Williamson. TRAFFIC thanks the following organizations for their assistance in placing symposium announcements on their websites: the International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA), the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and WWF. TRAFFIC East Asia-Japan wishes to express its gratitude for the support of the TRAFFIC Network, particularly Steven Broad from TRAFFIC International, Craig Kirkpatrick from TRAFFIC East Asia, James Compton from TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, and Crawford Allan from TRAFFIC North America. iv Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on the Trade in Bear Parts INTRODUCTION Of the eight species of bears in the world, four are endemic to Asia: the Asiatic Black Bear Ursus thibetanus, Sun Bear Ursus malayanus, Sloth Bear Melursus ursinus, and Giant Panda Ailuopoda melanoleuca. Two others, the Brown Bear Ursus arctos and Polar Bear Ursus maritimus also occur in Asia (the Polar Bear only in the Arctic region of Siberia), as well as in Europe and North America. Only the American Black Bear Ursus americanus and Andean (Spectacled) Bear Tremarctos ornatus do not occur in Asia. Most Asian bear species face conservation threats, including the threat posed by ongoing trade in bear parts. Unfortunately, there is a lack of reliable data concerning Asia’s bear populations and the challenges facing them. With this in mind, TRAFFIC, the joint wildlife trade program of WWF and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), took the lead in organizing the Fourth International Symposium on the Trade in Bear Parts, held on October 4th 2007 in Karuizawa, Japan. With support from WWF–Japan, the WWF International Global Species Programme, the IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group, and the Animals Asia Foundation, the symposium brought together representative from wildlife management authorities, conservation groups, animal welfare organizations, as well as academics, researchers, and members of the Traditional Medicine community. Approximately 90 people attended, most from Asian countries. Earlier symposia in this series have focused on broad global issues such as the status of bear species and populations on the various continents they inhabitat, the effectiveness of trade regulations and law enforcement in combating illegal trade in bear parts, the use of bear bile in traditional medicine and pharmaceutical alternatives to it, and related topics. These symposia were held in Seattle