Local authorities in Jilin province are searching for the bodies of five bears thought to have been poisoned by poachers for their gall and paws, which fetch high prices on the black market.

Hu Donglin, a writer specializing in wildlife stories, raised the alarm when he revealed on his micro blog on Sunday that he had found the bodies of five of the national-level protected animals on the northern slope of Changbai Mountain.

"The authorities are investigating this vile crime and trying to find the poachers. That means all my efforts were worthwhile," said Hu.

Officials of Changbai Mountain Protection and Development Zone launched a search involving more than 100 people on Monday to find the bears' bodies.

"It's still under investigation. If the case is true and we can find who killed the bears, the poachers could be sent to prison for at least 10 years," said Yu Changchun, an official from the forestry department of Jilin province.

"I was so sad and angry that national-level protected animals could suffer in this way," Hu said, recalling when he first saw the bears' bodies.

"Every 6 or 7 meters, there was an incomplete and decomposing bear's corpse. They were a family, I guess."

He said the poachers' main purpose was to get bear gall and paws to sell, pointing out that 1 gram of gall can be sold for 150 yuan ($24) and 1 kilogram of paw can be sold for 2,400 yuan on the local black market.

Contact the writers at [email protected] and [email protected]

Zheng Jinran in Beijing contributed to this story.