B.C. man pleads guilty to trafficking bear parts, fined almost $9,000

A British Columbia man was fined thousands of dollars after pleading guilty to multiple bear-part-trafficking charges in Port Coquitlam provincial court Wednesday.

Fifty-two-year-old Hong Tao Yang of Abbotsford pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in bear paws and one count of trafficking in bear parts.

He was handed a fine of $8,625.

According to the Crown, in August of 2022, the B.C. Conservation Service (COS) was notified by a member of the public that an employee of a Maple Ridge recycling facility had asked him if he had black bear paws he could sell.

The employee was later identified as Yang, the court heard.

Between August and October of 2022, an undercover COS officer, posing as a hunter, attended the recycling facility, building a rapport with Yang.

The court heard that on three separate occasions the undercover officer sold Yang bear parts, each time notifying him that this was illegal.

The Crown admitted that there was no evidence to suggest that Yang re-sold the parts and agreed that the minimum fine for each count was appropriate.

Provincial court Judge Nicholas Preovolos accepted the defence’s submission that Yang was using the parts for traditional Chinese medicine.

Outside the courthouse, conservation officer Jordan Ferguson told reporters the COS hopes this will deter others from committing these types of offences.

“Being in possession of these parts is illegal, no matter if it is just for personal use,” he said. “When you create a market just by purchasing these items, it can kind of escalate, and more people start doing it, and then we have issues with animal populations.”

He says it's key that people who hear or see of any suspicious activity reach out to the Report All Poachers and Polluters hotline.

“We rely on members of the public immensely. There’s only so many conservation officers in the province,” Ferguson said.

Yang was given 18 months to pay the fine.