Discovery of dumped bear paws under investigation by B.C. conservation officers

B.C. conservation officers say dumped wildlife parts were found along a remote road. (BCCOS/Twitter)

Warning: Disturbing content

VANCOUVER -- Conservation officers are investigating a gruesome discovery in a remote area in B.C.'s Interior.

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says it received a report of "a disposal of wildlife parts, including several bear paws," near Anglemont Mountain in the Shuswap Lake region.

Officers went to the area along Forest Service Road 695 to collect evidence. While details were shared on Tuesday, the BCCOS did not say when the discovery was made or when officers went to the area.

Now, conservation officers are asking for the public's help to identify who may have disposed the parts.

Anyone caught exporting, importing or trafficking bear paws, bear gall bladders or genitals can face a hefty fine or jail time if convicted.

Last year, five people were convicted of illegal wildlife trafficking for smuggling black bear parts from Saskatchewan to Ontario. The case involved the trafficking of paws and gallbladders. Police said at the time the paws were used to make soup and the fat was boiled down for use in skin creams.

A Toronto woman was charged and convicted of unlawfully possessing black bear gallbladders and fined about $3,000. Four people from Saskatchewan, who were also convicted of unlawfully trafficking in bear parts, faced fines that total $67,370.

That same year a mangled carcass of a young black bear was found in West Vancouver. The North Shore Black Bear Society and the Fur-Bearers believed at the time poaching was responsible for the animal's death.

In 2017, a Cache Creek resident was fined a total of $18,000 for purchasing bear paws and gall bladders. An undercover investigation into that operation took about two years and resulted in nine charges. Three of those counts were later stayed.

Anyone with details about the recent incident is asked to call the Report All Poachers and Polluters line at 1-877-952-7277.

With files from The Canadian Press