NGOs Angry Over Bear-Meat Sale
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Environmental and animal welfare groups are blocking the legalization of bear meat for sale as food.
The opposition arose amid campaigning to sell bear meat in a desperate attempt to reduce the financial burden of raising the animal.
An association for bear breeders said they're victims of ill-fated governmental policy.
It said that in 1981, they began to import bears in line with the government's policy to help them supplement their income but in 1985, international trade was suddenly banned out of pressure from animal rights groups.
The bear population reached 1,400 in 2006.
The association said bear meat is available in Japan and Russia. In Korea, bear gall bladders have been authorized for trade as processed goods but not food.
Since bears are designated as endangered animals here, their slaughter is strictly prohibited. Breeders are allowed to kill the animal only when it reaches the age 10 and then take out only the gall bladder.
The association claimed that the regulation has made their lives more difficult as it costs about 800,000 won a year to feed a bear, meaning 10 million won is needed to breed a bear until its reaches the age of 10.
``Moreover, the price of gall bladders has fallen to between three and 10 million won these days, due to the inflow of cheap Chinese products,'' Kim Mu-eung, an association spokesman said.
Kim urged the government to permit the use of bear meat for food. ``Bears' paws are considered a delicacy in Chinese cuisine and we need such measures not to discourage farmers from breeding the animal,'' he said.
But animal rights and environmental groups, including Green Korea United (GKU), urged the government not to scrap the policy but to help breeders through compensation. The Ministry of Environment said it has no money in its budget for compensation.
``Bears are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora,'' a GKU official Park Hye-young said. ``The ministry has been fence sitting. Runaway bears sometimes ruin nearby farms. A complete ban on bear breeding could be the only solution,'' Park added.
A ministry official said the government is leaning toward promoting the animal's welfare.