“Operation Something Bruin,” a four-year, multi-agency sting operation involving state officials from Georgia and North Carolina, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, and National Park Service, has resulted in the arrest of 80 people charged with some 980 wildlife violations in connection with bear poaching in the region.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission officers infiltrated poaching circles to document bear baiting, illegal takes of bears and other wildlife, and a host of other violations. Though most of the bears taken were killed for trophies, some died to supply the black market with paws and gallbladders used for traditional Asian medicines—a growing problem nationwide, according to USFWS.