In captivity
Humans began to display animals behind bars as something exotic and even today, in the 21st century, this practice continues to be a business where animals suffer: “Zoocosis is the term given to the self-destructive and abnormal disorder that animals present in captivity".
Poaching
Illegal sale of bear skins and animal heads in a Moscow market. Russia. 2006.
There are approximately 200,000 brown bears left in the world. The largest population is in Russia, with 120,000 individuals. The brown bear occupies the largest range of habitats of any Ursus species with recorded observations in every temperate northern forest and at elevations as high as 5,000 m.