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DECEMBER 13, 2000

Animal-rights activists are urging Congress to pass a law banning trade in bear gallbladders and other parts, hoping to protect bears from being poached to satisfy international demand for them.

A bill passed by the Senate in October would do just that. It would ban import, export, sale, barter, transport, or possession of eight species of bear -- Asian black bear, brown bear, polar bear, American black bear, spectacled bear, giant panda, sun bear, and sloth bear.

The state of Alaska already bans the sale of black and brown bear organs. Polar bears can only be hunted by Alaska Natives.

The bill is currently being held up due to an objection which originated in the House.

Get the Bill:
A bill to conserve global bear populations by prohibiting the importation, exportation, and interstate trade of bear viscera and items, products, or substances containing, or labeled or advertised as containing, bear viscera, and for other purposes (S.1109)

Get the Story:
Groups push ban on trade in bear parts (The Anchorage Daily News 12/13)