By VDC staff

With Vermont’s bear hunting season starting September 1, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department reminds hunters that the sale of bear paws and internal organs of bears is prohibited.

“Vermont State Game Wardens have investigated cases where people from out of state have approached Vermont hunters to purchase bear paws and gallbladders which are valuable in Asian countries,” said Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Jason Batchelder.  “Until the law was changed last year, Vermont was one of the few states that still allowed the sale of bear paws and gall bladders that are re-sold on the black market.” 

The meat of bear, deer or moose may be sold within Vermont during the open hunting season and for 20 days after the season ends.  The meat may not be bought or sold to be transported out of the state. 

A person may buy or sell the head, hide, hoofs, and antlers of legally taken deer or moose and the head and hide of legally taken black bears at any time.

Bear gallbladders are sought by some Asians for their medicinal properties – which are genuine, according to a Canadian wildlife official interviewed by CBC. They create an acid beneficial to the immune system. But the same acid can be created artificially. “There are some people who really want the wild thing,” he said.

Bear paws are turned into soup, while the baculum — or penis bone — also is sold on the black market for its perceived health benefit, Jordan said.