Muskoka man fined heavily for possessing illegal bear parts

Conservation officers are urging hunters to follow the rules after a Muskoka man was fined for illegally possessing bear parts.

A Gravenhurst resident has been fined $6,500 for illegally possessing black bear gallbladders.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), officers were investigating a complaint against the man at the time when the gallbladders were found.

"While they were speaking to the individual, they observed a bear gallbladder that had been removed from a bear," said Daryl Kowalsky, area enforcement manager with the MNR.

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Possessing bear gallbladders violates the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, which prohibits owning certain parts of black bears once removed from the carcass.

Kowalsky said those who typically are found to have these parts aren't typical law-abiding hunters.

"Bear gallbladder is a very common ingredient in certain traditional medicines," Kowalsky added. "Popularity of that ingredient has driven gallbladders in the black market."

The gallbladders were eventually forensically confirmed to be from black bears.

The Gravenhurst man pled guilty to being in possession of each.

The case was heard in Bracebridge on May 30.