Large haul of bear paws for suspected illegal export found in Russian Far East

It is the latest discovery indicating wild animals are slaughtered so their body parts can be illegally exported for use in supposed medical cures. 

Police in Chuguyevsky district, Primorsky region found 527 bear paws, 11 gallbladders of bears, and three gallbladders of musk deer. The find was made on the premises of the small timber processing company, in railway carriages. 

Police found 37 bags of sawdust in which were hidden the animal parts. A forensic examination was being carried out in Vladivostok.

The case is currently under investigation. Police are seeking to establish who was behind the crime, and where the animal parts were from, as well as which country the were intended to be exported to.