VANCOUVER — A Burnaby, B.C., woman has been fined $5,200 after illegally buying bear gallbladders in an attempt to treat her severely-ill son's seizures.
Yon Kim was sentenced on Tuesday for two counts of trafficking in bear gallbladders under the B.C. Wildlife Act in Port Coquitlam provincial court.
Det. Sgt. Darcy MacPhee of the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said Kim held a traditional belief that the bile contained in the gallbladders would help her adult son's condition.
"He suffered pretty much constant seizures. He sounded like a very ill young man," MacPhee said in an interview. "After she had treated her son with it, it had no effect. It did not help him."
He said Kim was charged following a six-month investigation that began in October 2014. She pleaded guilty to the two charges in February.
MacPhee said the service began investigating Kim after she called a bear hunters' association in Wyoming looking for bear gallbladders. The association alerted state authorities, who contacted officers in B.C. after learning she lived in the province.
He said the Conservation Officer Service launched an undercover operation in which officers met with Kim and another woman, Yunhee "Sarah" Kim, before ultimately selling them black bear parts in Merritt. The two women are not related.
Yon Kim also purchased gallbladders on another occasion in Coquitlam, MacPhee said.
Sarah Kim, an acupuncturist, was fined $22,400 in March after pleading guilty to seven charges related to trafficking in bear gallbladders and paws, as well as deer meat.
MacPhee said one reason that Sarah Kim's fine was higher was because she prescribed bear bile to clients, while Yon Kim used the bile only in an effort to treat her severely-ill adult son.
He said conservation officers are extremely concerned about people buying wildlife parts for any reason and it can have a severe impact over time on animal populations.
MacPhee added that cases involving bear gallbladders are not rare.
"We're pretty concerned. It definitely isn't a once-in-a-while thing. It is a problem."
