5 held on bear poaching charge

The accused poachers cut off the foot of a black bear, leaving part of its bone in the forest of Changbai Mountain Natural Reserve in Jinlin province. Photo taken on June 12. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

Police in Northeast China have detained five people on suspicion of poaching wild black bears.

The arrests come after the bodies of five State-protected bears were discovered on the northern slope of Changbai Mountain Natural Reserve in Jilin province.

Gallbladders and bones believed to be from the bears were seized from the suspects' homes, said provincial forestry official Yu Changchun.

When the dead bears were found, they were "in advanced stages of decay", he said, adding that the level of decomposition had caused difficulty in confirming whether the bones are a match.

Police have sent officers to Beijing and Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, to ask for help from experts in the laboratory to compare the DNA from the dead bodies and the found parts.

"If they are a match, the suspects will be charged," Yu said.

In an interview with China Network TV on July 1, Wang Yan, director of public security for Changbai Mountain, said the investigation could take another two weeks.

Wildlife writer Hu Donglin first wrote about the death of the bears on his micro blog on June 24.

He claimed the animals were poisoned by poachers for their gallbladders and paws, which can fetch high prices on the black market. He estimated that 1 g of gall can be sold for 150 yuan ($23.67) and 1 kg of paw can be sold for 2,400 yuan.