Two brother bear cubs rescued from suspected smugglers in Vietnam have become poster children for a campaign against the use of capturing and harvesting bears for their bile.
The two men arrested said “they bought the cubs for $1,500” and were “going to sell them for a much higher price,” most likely to a farm that harvests bear bile, Tuan Bendixsen, the Vietnam director for the nonprofit charity Animals Asia, told NBC News.
“To get the cubs they would have to kill the mother,” Bendixsen added, “and the mother’s body parts would be sold” for the trade in purported medicinal cures from bear parts. The body parts most in demand are gallbladders and paws.