Abstract
There is a large demand for bear parts in the Czech Republic, and this drives legal and illegal trade in various bear species sourced from outside the country. From 2010 to 2018, the Czech Republic reported legal imports of 495 bear parts, mostly as trophies from Canada and Russia. Illegal trade in bear parts and derivatives for medicine as well as trophies persists as evidenced by the number of seizures made by the Czech Environmental Inspectorate during this same period. From January 2005 to February 2020, 36 seizures involving bears, their parts and derivatives, were made totalling 346 items. Most cases involved trophies (skins, skulls, taxidermies) predominantly from Canada, Russia and the USA, followed by traditional medicines claiming to contain bear parts mostly from Vietnam and China. Three cases involved souvenirs or jewellery, and one case involved live bear cubs. The greatest number of seizures made originated from Vietnam, followed by Canada and Russia. As all countries involved in these incidents are Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), there is a mechanism in place to jointly tackle this illegal trade. International collaboration is essential if efforts to end the illegal international trade in bear parts and derivatives are to succeed.
Highlights
The unsustainable and illegal trade in wildlife has become a leading impediment to the preservation of biodiversity (van Uhm 2016; WWF 2018; UNODC 2020)
From January 2005 to February 2020, there were a total of 36 seizures involving various bears species, their parts and derivatives, totalling 346 items in the Czech Republic (Table 1)
Seizures were made of products coming from eight countries and territories, outside of the Czech Republic (Table 2)
Summary
The unsustainable and illegal trade in wildlife has become a leading impediment to the preservation of biodiversity (van Uhm 2016; WWF 2018; UNODC 2020). For example, coveted for traditional medicinal use and trophies, are on the brink of extinction (Wong and Krishnasamy 2019), and depletion of Asian pangolin species has resulted in the over-harvesting and illegal trafficking of African pangolins in tremendous volumes (Challender et al 2016; Gomez et al 2016; Heinrich et al 2016) Lesser studied species such as tortoises and freshwater turtles, amphibians and songbirds are being silently extinguished for the exotic pet trade (Auliya et al 2016; Lee et al 2016; Nijman et al 2019; Shepherd et al 2019; Stanford et al 2020). The list of species threatened by illegal and unsustainable trade is growing, and among these species in peril are bears
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