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Attitudes Towards Consumption and Conservation of Tigers in ChinaWild tiger populations throughout Asia are at critical levels. Many of them are under extensive pressure due to habitat shrinkage, prey depletion, and continued poaching. A recent scientific paper published by experts from Save The Tiger Fund, and partner organizations, suggests that wild tigers face no greater threat than the possibility of China legalizing the trade in tiger products. The research reported in the paper, Attitudes Towards Consumption and Conservation of Tigers in China (2008), surveyed 1,880 residents from seven Chinese cities to understand their demand for tiger products and attitudes towards tiger conservation issues. Nearly half (43%) of those surveyed used products labeled as containing tiger products, 71% of these tiger-product consumers preferred wild tiger parts to those farmed. Tiger bone plasters and tiger bone wine were the most popular products consumed. The majority of the consumers (85%) did not know whether the products they used were genuine. The authors identified opportunities to rebrand tiger products to reduce demand for tiger parts. A total of 93% of the respondents were supportive of China’s trade ban to protect wild tigers. The conservation community and tiger farmers heatedly debate the consequences of lifting the ban on trade in farmed tiger parts and products in China. This is further complicated by a conflicting consumer interest to prefer products derived from wild tigers and a support of the trade ban. The results of this study indicate that legalizing the trade in farmed tiger parts may promote the demand for wild tiger parts given China’s population of 1.4 billion people. Poaching wild tigers costs considerably less than raising tigers on farms. There is a significant possibility that wild tiger parts would make their way into a legal tiger market, due to poor enforcement, and the fact that wild and farmed tiger parts are undistinguishable. This survey demonstrates that threats to wild tigers will be substantially higher if Chinese authorities lift the 1993 ban on tiger parts. The full paper may be found online at http://www.plosone.org/doi/pone.0002544. |
