An analysis of the illegal bear trade in India

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Throughout the range of bears in Asia, a combination of threats - loss of suitable habitat, increasing human conflict, illegal wildlife trade - are pushing bear populations towards extinction. But studies in Asia are showing that indiscriminate poaching and illegal trade are increasingly becoming the main driver of species extinctions. Here we examine seizure data and poaching incidents involving India’s bear species from 2009 to 2019 to assess the extent illegal wildlife trade is impacting bear populations in the country. The Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) systematically collects data on poaching and seizures of protected species which is collated, categorised and stored in WPSI’s database on wildlife crime. Using this data, we assessed bear species impacted by trade, mapped out important trade and poaching hubs, and trade dynamics involving bears in India. Seizure data indicated the exploitation of Asiatic black bears for traditional medicine use while sloth bears were coveted for their skins. Poaching incidents predominantly involved sloth bears and steadily increased over the study period. However, it is unclear whether this is a result of targeted hunting of bears for trade, a threat possibly exacerbated by declining bear species elsewhere in Asia where demand still persists for bear gall bladder and parts; or in response to growing levels of human-bear conflict which is on the rise in India due to loss of suitable habitat and increasing human encroachment into forested areas. This study shows that despite being a strictly protected species in India, there is still a threat to bears from illegal trade. Greater effort is needed to protect bear habitat and reduce retaliatory killing of bears which impedes conservation efforts to reduce the illegal exploitation of bears for trade. Enforcement capacity and resources also need to be improved and must encompass intelligence-led investigations and cross-border cooperation between enforcement agencies to target buyers and traders. The trade in bears and their parts should be consistently monitored on a national scale to support effective law enforcement interventions and conservation initiatives to reduce the levels of poaching of bears in India.