Selling tigers won't save them
Re: Op-Ed August 15th, 2006.
Farming tigers for tiger bones, claw, and fat might be produce a lot
of tigers, and might even be a good business opportunity, but does
nothing to ensure that wild tigers would still prowl through the dappled
jungles hunting sambar and axis deer. Farming is also bad conservation
policy as markets for body parts cannot distinguish wild from farmed
tigers - and a legal market would encourage illegal hunting, a disregard
for law and order, and make it more difficult to protect wild animals
and their habitats.
Conservation of tigers remains a challenge, but the protection of
wild tigers and their habitat is a proven and effective strategy, and we
need to hold the course.
John G. Robinson, Ph.D.
The writer is the Executive Vice President, Conservation and Science
with the Wildlife Conservation Society.
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