Russia’s population of brown bears has fallen by 36 per cent in two years as poachers kill them for use in aphrodisiacs and exotic dishes.

According to the Russian prosecutor general’s office, the species has declined from 225,000 to 143,000 in just two years.

6 Bear paws laid out after being seized from smugglers trying to take them out of Russia

At that rate of decline, the species will be extinct in six years.

Now Vladimir Putin’s security chiefs - fresh from controlling the World Cup - are demanding new laws to protect the country’s trademark beasts.

A key in the bear demise is reported to be massive poaching and smuggling of bear parts to China, South Korea and other Asian countries.

There they are seen as traditional medicine cures and food delicacies.

Parts such as gallbladder, liver, bile and testicles are prized aphrodisiacs, while paws are used in a soup.

6 The bear is Russia's symbolic animal but number have been falling dramatically

6 Bear paws are used in exotics dishes in some Asian countries

Seizures of bear parts are running at record levels by Russian customs especially near the border with China but the fear is that much smuggling goes undetected.

Last year a tip to the FSB - Russia’s federal security agency - led to the seizure of 468 severed paws near the border of TransBaikal region with China.

This meant at least 117 bears were illegally slain but the fear is this is the tip of the iceberg.

Some 37 elk lips were also impounded in the same seizure.

On the black market dishes made with bear paws - such as soups - can command prices of up to £750, it has been reported.

As with elk lips, they are seen as increasing immunity and prolonging life.

The FSB want to label brown bears a “strategic important resource” for Russia which will enable them to be protected.

A new law proposes increasing punishments to 10 years in jail for poaching or smuggling bear parts for individuals and 12 years for a gang, with maximum fines of £12,000.

6 As well as Russia's famous brown bear, the country's security chiefs also want to protect the Asian black bear, which lives in parts of the country

6 Last year the FSB seized 468 severed paws near the border with China

6 Bear's gall bladders are considered an aphrodisiac

The FSB proposals would also apply to Himalayan - or black -bears and musk deer.

WWF Russia has backed tougher laws, reported The Siberian Times.

“Bear paws are an Asian delicacy, because of which the demand for animals is constantly growing,” said official Vladimir Krever.

“We speak here of many hundreds of paws.

“The Siberian musk deer are used for perfumery, and also because of the tusks of males of these animals.

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“There are a lot of attempts of illegal transportation, and they all violate the current legislation.”

Despite this, the Russian ministry in charge of hunting disputes the decline in bears.

The Ministry of Nature claimed bear numbers actually increased despite poaching from 203,600 to 245,100.

The FSB also wants to protect black - or Himalayan - bears found in eastern Russia.

The black bear population has risen from 5,100 to 7,300, according to the ministry.

The ministry has warned that the new law could criminalise people who shoot bears in self defence.

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