With a population estimated at 500,000, it, unlike other bears, is not threatened with imminent extinction. And so the US and Canadian governments permit hunters to kill 40,000 bears a year. They once even allowed export of bear gall to such Asian markets as South Korea, mainland China, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
由於估計現存野外數量仍有五十萬隻，絕種壓力不如其他熊危急，地主國美國與加拿大仍準其國人每年獵殺四萬頭，也曾經允許出口熊膽到南韓、大陸、日本、香港、中華民國等亞洲國家。