I can’t even joke about this one. A hunter in Shuswap reported she’d found about 80 severed bear paws that had apparently been tossed from a moving vehicle.
Uncool, people. Bears are majestic creatures—so much so that our reputation obviously precedes us, as there’s a hot market for bear organs. But let’s be clear. There are synthetic substitutes for bear bile.
All the bears at LBHQ are appalled at this news item. (And we don’t know why my mother insists on having CBC Radio rattling away in the background while she makes coffee in the morning. If she weren’t in the habit of doing this, Scary, Blackie, Fluffy, Red and I wouldn’t have heard the news, and we wouldn’t be quaking right now.)
If you guys have any suggestions about how to stop this kind of psychopathic behaviour, let me know.
Liquorstore Bear 
Level of disgust? 10. Level of surprise? 0. Possibly a CRISPR gene modification that makes any and all bear parts of 100% toxic to humans.
The unfortunate thing is that there is some evidence for the efficacy of bear bile, and people tend to value the real thing more than its synthetic analogue. But this story messed me up. I can’t get it out of my head.