Protected but not yet liberated: Korea's bear-farming ban moves faster than implementation

The grace period for a ban on bear farming has expired, but the practice is unlikely to disappear immediately as some farms continue to resist transfers and shelters remain short on space.

The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced that the six-month guidance period that delayed penalties for violating the ban ended on Tuesday.

Farmed bears in Korea have historically been raised for their gallbladders, which contain bile used in traditional medicine. The bears were typically kept alive until they reached at least 10 years of age before being slaughtered.

Bear farming and bile extraction became illegal on Jan. 1 under a revised Wildlife Protection and Management Act agreed upon by the government, bear farmers and animal rights groups in 2022. Enforcement measures, including penalties and confiscation, were delayed to allow time for negotiations over the purchase of the bears.

Starting Wednesday, anyone who owns or breeds bears can face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won ($32,000).

Of the 262 farmed bears still in Korea, only 43 have been moved to shelters, including 28 in Gurye County, South Jeolla, and 15 in Hwacheon County, Gangwon.

The remaining 219 are still being kept across nine farms. Eight of those farms have agreed to transfer a combined 147 bears to animal rights groups. The government plans to move some of them first to a public facility in Gurye County.

For bears that cannot yet be moved because of limited shelter capacity, ownership will be transferred to the central or local governments, while the farms continue to care for them temporarily.

The Environment Ministry will cover management costs and plans to move 104 more bears once additional shelter space in Seocheo County, South Chungcheong, is completed later this year.

The biggest obstacle is a farm in the capital region that still holds 72 bears. The farm has refused negotiations and is demanding 10 million won per bear, more than twice the amount offered to other farms.

In April, the farm filed an administrative lawsuit against the government after its request to reclassify the purpose of keeping the bears was rejected.

The Climate Ministry is taking a cautious approach and plans to decide whether to file a criminal complaint against the farm after the lawsuit is resolved.

Bear farming in Korea began in 1981, when the government allowed the import of bears to boost incomes for farms.

The policy drew heavy criticism because imports were permitted even after bears had been designated an endangered species. Imports were banned four years later, but breeding and farming continued, with the number of farmed bears once exceeding 1,000.

As a result, Korea long carried the stigma of being the only member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development where bears were raised for bile extraction.

BY KO SEUNG-PYO [[email protected]]