Environmentalists fear that unscrupulous traders will only be too happy to sell illegally poached bear gall of endangered species as legally hunted American black bear gall. And the United States and Canada also worry that open export of bear galls will create a greater market demand, speeding up the day that the American black bear follows the tracks of its Asian cousins toward real endangerment.
如今商人卻舍正途不由，加上擔心其他已禁用的熊膽被魚目混珠，「偽裝」成合法的北美熊膽販售；保育團體也憂慮開放北美熊膽外銷，將造成市場大量需求，加速北美黑熊走上亞洲熊的後路。