the number, and phoned the FWS field office in Raleigh.
A female voice informed me that the resident agent in charge was Hershey Zamzow.
Zamzow came on after a brief hold.
I explained who I was.
“No need for introductions, Doc. I know who you are. Hot down there as it is up here?”
“Yes, sir.”
The temperature at nine had been eighty-two.
“What can I do for you this fine summer morning?”
I told him about the Spix’s feathers, and asked if there was any local black market trade in exotic birds.
“A huge amount of wildlife flows through the Southeast from the Southern Hemisphere. Snakes, lizards, birds. You name it. If a species is rare, some pissant with mush for brains will want it. Hell, the Southeast is one big poachers’ paradise.”
“How are live animals smuggled into the country?”
“All sorts of clever ways. They’re drugged and stuffed into poster tubes. They’re hidden inside elasticized vests.” Zamzow didn’t try to conceal his disgust. “And the mortality rate is astronomical. Think about it. You taken a flight lately that ran on time? How clever do you think these cretins are at calculating the amount of oxygen in a concealed storage space?
“But getting back to your feathers, birds are a popular sideline for South American cocaine smugglers. Guy scores a few parrots from the village poacher, runs them up to the States with his next shipment of blow. Birds live, he turns a nice profit. Birds die, he’s out beer money for the week.”
“What about bears?” I asked.
“
“Are there a lot of bears in North Carolina?”
“Not as many as there ought to be.”
“Why is that?”
“Habitat destruction and poaching.”
“There’s a season when bears are hunted legally?”
“Yes, ma’am. Varies by county, but mostly in the fall and early winter. Some South Carolina counties distinguish between hunting stationary and hunting with dogs.”
“Tell me about the poaching.”
“My favorite topic.” His voice sounded bitter. “Illegal killing of black bears was made a misdemeanor by the Lacy Act in 1901, a felony in 1981. But that doesn’t stop the poachers. In season, hunters take the whole bear, use the meat and fur. Out of season, poachers take the parts they want and leave the carcasses to rot.”
“Where does most bear poaching take place?”
“Ten, twenty years ago it was pretty much restricted to the mountains. Nowadays coastal animals are getting hit just as hard. But it’s not just a Carolina problem. There are less than half a million bears left in North America. Every year hundreds of carcasses turn up intact except for the paws and gallbladders.”
“Gallbladders?” I couldn’t mask my shock.
“Hell of a black market. In traditional Asian medicine, bear gall ranks right up there with rhino horn, ginseng, and deer musk. Bear bile is thought to cure fever, convulsions, swelling, eye pain, heart disease, hangover, you name it. And the meat ain’t chopped liver, either. Some Asian cultures view bear paw soup as a real delicacy. A bowl can sell for as much as fifteen hundred bucks in certain restaurants. Off the menu, of course.”
“What are the main markets for bear galls?”
“South Korea ranks number one, since the native supply is nonexistent. Hong Kong, China, and Japan aren’t far behind.”
I took a moment to digest all that.
“And bear hunting is legal in season in North Carolina?”
“As in many states, yes. But selling animal body parts, including gallbladders, heads, hides, claws, and teeth, is illegal. Few years back, Congress considered legislation aimed at halting the trade in bear organs. Didn’t pass.”
Before I could comment, he went on.
“Look at Virginia. State has about four thousand bears. Officials estimate six hundred to nine hundred are killed legally every year, but have no numbers as to how many are poached. Busted a ring up there not long ago, seized about three hundred gallbladders and arrested twenty-five people.”
“How?” I was so repulsed I could hardly form questions.
“Hunters tipped officials to poaching in and around Shenandoah National Park. Agents ultimately infiltrated the ring, posed as middlemen, accompanied poachers on hunts, that sort of thing. I worked a similar sting up in Graham County about ten years back.”
“Not the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest?”
