Stopping the Trade in Tiger Parts
Tiger trade is banned
internationally and by the domestic laws of many countries,
including China. By 1993, these prohibitions had stopped an international trade
that saw tens of millions of units of tiger products bought and sold
annually. This led to a temporary easing of the threat posed by trade,
but in 2005, entire populations of tigers began to disappear in
India. This was due in large part to a resurgent demand for tiger
skins used as clothing and décor as well as a persistent demand for
tiger bone used in traditional Asian health remedies.
Save The Tiger Fund
launched the Campaign
Against Tiger Trafficking (CATT) in late 2005 to generate an
organized response to the organized transnational criminals that were
killing the world’s last tigers for profit. With its partners, CATT is
building, informing and supporting alliances among civil society,
governments and consumer groups to stop tiger trafficking. CATT is the only global
partnership initiative focused exclusively on stopping tiger trade and
leads a coalition of 24 organizations, representing more than 100 groups
around the world from the conservation, zoo and traditional medicine
communities.
Ominous Threats
Traditional Medicines - Trade in medicines containing tiger bone is
illegal in most major consumer markets, and the traditional Chinese
medicine (TCM) industry has embraced plentiful alternatives from
sustainable sources. Still, a black-market demand persists for health tonics and
medicines containing tiger bone to treat arthritis and other rheumatic
pain. CATT works closely with the global TCM industry, which actively
supports efforts to stop the use of tiger bones once and for all −
for the sake of healthy people and a healthy planet.
Traditional Costumes and Decor - Increasing wealth prompted a surge in the use
of tiger skins for ceremonial costumes in parts of Asia. However,
wearers of tiger skins are often willing to stop using them once they
realize that wild tigers are killed to meet the demand that they create.
Members of the CATT coalition are working with leaders in the
pan-Tibetan region of China to educate communities
about the links between their use of furs and the decimation of wild
tiger populations.
Tiger Farms - There is a new trade-related threat that could put every wild
tiger at risk. China now has an estimated 5,000 captive-bred tigers on
farms. While these
facilities currently are used as tourist attractions, behind the scenes
they are speed-breeding tigers in hope that China will soon legalize the sale of their parts and
products. Farm owners
complain that they can not afford to feed so many tigers, and the
Chinese government is seriously considering reopening trade in products
made from farmed tigers to generate income.
Unfortunately, even
limited legal trade in tiger products from farms will undo years of
conservation education work as tiger farms use advertising and marketing
campaigns to sell their products to China's
potential market of 1.3 billion, increasingly-wealthy
consumers. It also
would give international crime syndicates an easy avenue for laundering
the parts of wild tigers killed by poachers and make law enforcement
virtually impossible.
CATT
is working through its alliance of partners to increase awareness of the
dangers tiger farming and to encourage China to
keep its ban firmly in place.
For news on tiger trade,
sign up for our CATT
Alerts at www.savethetigerfund.org/friend.
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