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Half Ton of China-Bound Bear Paws Seized at Border

By The Moscow Times
Bear paw consumption in China remains high despite campaigns to supress demand. Russian bear paws smuggled into China fetch up to 20 times their market value. MyFWCmedia

BLAGOVESHCHENSK — Russian border control officials in the Far East have discovered almost half a ton of bear paws and Siberian musk deer organs being smuggled to China.

Federal Security Service officers seized over 450 kilograms of the packed bear parts and a gland and gall bladder from an endangered Siberian musk deer at a garage in the border city of Blagoveshchensk.

The bear paws came from around a hundred animals, officials said.

The packages "were being prepared to be sent to China," the border control service said in a statement.

Bear paws are often smuggled from Russia to many Asian countries, where they are considered a delicacy and are also used in traditional medicine.

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