the First Chechen War, and environmental crimes like poaching and illegal timber smuggling were generally not treated as national security issues. During the post-perestroika transition, the government agencies for environment and wildlife protection experienced severe budget cuts which led to layoffs and salary reductions for wildlife rangers in places like Primorski Krai and it reduced the resources of the rangers to fight against the poachers. There has been an increasing demand for bear parts, especially bile, and it led to an increase in poaching of bears in the Russian Federation. The collapse of communism in the country had significant influence on the average Russian's economic ability to maintain his or her family. There are a large population of bears in Russia, and Russia's trade in bear parts is primarily with nearby Asian countries like South Korea and the People's Republic of China. Because of these poaching of bears become easy for Russians. Poaching of the snow leopard is a serious problem in Russia along with Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, People’s Republic of China, Russia, Tajikstan and Uzbekistan.