Bear paws are also a popular food in South Korea and Japan. To satisfy market demand, in the 1970s an estimated 900 kilograms of bear paws per year were exported from China to Japan. That figure decreased to an average of 500 to 600 kilograms per year in the late 1980s. In 1990 4,000 kilograms of bear paws destined for Japan and Korea, in contravention of CITES, was intercepted in the port city of Dalian. The paws had been illegally collected by Chinese Forestry officials. The paw is best if it is removed prior to or during the barbaric slaying of the animal. See Bear Farm 2005

For the domestic market, Mills and Servheen report that in Harbin alone an estimated two tons of bear paws were consumed annually prior to 1989. Although the practice is now illegal, it is likely that in Harbin and other northern areas, citizens consume substantial quantities of bear paws and meat.

Other documentation shows bear paws being sold in other parts of China since 1990. Over a one month period in the winter of 1990, an investigator in southeastern China working for the TRAFFIC network, viewed over fifty paws from Asiatic black bears and more than twenty paws from brown bears. Paws were offered to two IFAW investigators in Chengdu in 1993, and Taiwanese nationals who travel to southeastern China also state that paws are available in restaurants and street markets.

A writer who travels extensively in China says one PRC source reports seeing an increase in automobiles with Guangzhou license plates in Yunnan Province. The vehicles are loaded with wildlife taken illegally from neighboring countries like Laos, Vietnam, and Burma, all of which border Yunnan Province. Bears or bear parts are more than likely at the top of these traders' shopping lists.

Further documented incidents of illegal trade include some live shipments of bears that were confiscated. In 1988 six men were arrested in Guangxi Province with forty live bear cubs taken from Sichuan Province. Another smuggler with nine black bears purchased in Yunnan was caught in Guangxi as he made his way to Guangzhou. Bears smuggled into Guangzhou and other cities in China are probably sold live to restaurants or butchered and sold piecemeal to local restaurants and pharmacies.

Bear farms are also a possible source of paws and meat. The owner of the Wei Zhou Technology Development Centre for Bears in the Guangdong Province Farm of Animals for Medicinal Use told IFAW investigators he will consider selling his bears, when they are beyond their milking prime, to Taiwanese gourmands for a bear banquet at Hong Kong dollar (HK) 10,000 ($1,152) per bear.

IFAW investigators visited another operation, the Nanping Bear Farm of the Special Economic Zone of Zhuhai, on several occasions in 1993. While documenting the horrendous conditions of the farm, they also noticed that three of the bears were each missing a paw. IFAW ultimately persuaded the Chinese government to shut down the facility.

Nanping farm manager Chan Jin Shi angrily denies reports that his bears had their paws amputated. During an interview with Chan,however, a reporter noticed bottles of bear paw liquid lining the farms shelves. Chan accounted for the liquid by claiming that he had had two bear deaths due to illness. "The hospital could not cure them and they died. Therefore we applied for permission to use the paws in our production of bear paw liquid."

While in China the authors came across bear paws on only three occasions: in a hotel restaurant in Dalian, in a village in rural Guangdong Province, and in a Kunming City pharmacy. At the Beijing Lou restaurant in Dalian's Regent Hotel, braised bear paws were advertised on a three sided, revolving, illuminated sign, with enlarged photos of several dishes, including bear paws. A waitress at the restaurant claimed the fare was popular as a banquet entree and was sold "by the table" for RMB5,000 ($576) or more, depending on the number of diners.

At a small restaurant in Chonghua, a village in Guangdong Province, the authors inquired about bear paws and tiger meat and were informed that the restaurant did not serve bear meat or other endangered species. However, a man who happened to overhear the query said he could supply bear paws and tiger meat and asked the authors to accompany him to a different part of the village to discuss the matter.

After a quick drive to another restaurant, the man, surnamed Wen, explained that he could not discuss endangered species at the other restaurant out of fear of being overheard and turned in to the authorities. That restaurant is government run, and tigers and bears, he said, are "number one species on China's animal protection list."

Wen said that bear paws are available for RMB3,000 ($346) each. The price included preparation by a chef. Wen added that he would need advance notice, as the paw takes several days to stew. Wen also offered tiger meat for between RMB550 ($63) to RMB800 ($92) per kilogram, depending on the amount purchased. He claimed to have 40 kilograms of tiger meat on hand.

The author also saw bear paws at the aptly named Yunnan Rare Drugs Pharmacy in Kunming City. A pair of what were claimed to be the rear paws of an Asiatic black bear, priced at RMB270 ($31) per paw, were prominently displayed in a glass counter along with elephant hide, deer penises, and other animal products. At a subsequent visit two weeks later, only one paw was displayed in the window. During the second visit, the author asked several questions about using bear paws. The clerk first explained that the shop frequently sold bear paws: rarely does a pair go unsold for more than a few weeks. The clerk said she believes that the paws are taken from bears from northeastern China. She explained that bear paws can be prepared in a soup or a stew with a wide range of herbs. She was not familiar with specific medicinal uses, although like most Chinese, she believes a bear's front paws are more potent because bears lick them more. The Chinese also prefer front paws over rear paws because the front paws carry less of the animal's weight and are, as a result, more tender. The clerk also said she believes that because bears lick their left paw more than their right, the left paw is better.