According to Sports Illustrated, bear wrestling used to be quite a popular hobby in the United States particularly in places like Alabama, where in 2006 a law was issued to prevent bear exploitation, or more specifically, to stop bear wrestling. Alabama Code Section 13A-12-5 that determines unlawful bear exploitation is when a person knowingly “promotes, engages in, or is employed at a bear match,” if he or she receives money for bear wrestling and if he or she “sells, purchases, possesses or trains a bear for bear wrestling.”