In high demand is the bear's gall bladder and the bile it produces. The Malaysian Sun bear, which once roamed the forests of Southeast Asia is now one of the region's most critically endangered species. While populations of black bears still exist in the wild, they are being routinely poached by gangs of hunters who then ferry the animals to traders for sale in Vietnam and abroad. Environmentalists have drawn a line in the dirt, declaring bear bile remedies bogus. If you dry up market demand you stop the poachers.
Some entrepreneurs see no changing the Asian belief that bear products work.
Do Khac Hieu is Vietnam's leading proponent of captive bear raising. In the early 70s, Hieu was a young and energetic biologist who had just finished university. He left Hanoi to live with a hunting community in a remote area of Cao Bang, northern Vietnam. Hieu saw the villagers kill many bears for sale of their gall and other by-products. One hunter with whom Hieu lived killed 50 bears.