Focus efforts on wild tigers, not captive ones
To the editor:
Barun Mitra claims the tiger can "buy its way out of extinction" by
allowing the breeding and sale of parts from captive-bred tigers for
traditional Chinese medicine.
But re-opening any trade will ensure it's open season on the world's
remaining wild tigers. Everywhere they live, these magnificent cats fall
victim to poisoning, shooting, electrocution and snaring for their
skins, bones and other body parts. If China were to lift its 1993 ban on
domestic trade in tiger parts, the incentives for poachers would be even
greater as there would be no way to distinguish the bones of "farmed"
tigers from those of wild tigers. Poachers could wipe out what remains
of wild populations while "laundering" their goods through legal trade
channels.
A better way to conserve tigers is the simplest. We have seen the
rapid recovery of fast-breeding tiger populations wherever they and
their prey are protected and given adequate space. Save the Chinese
farms for ducks and pigs. Save the wildlands of Asia for their tigers
and the millions of other species protected in tiger reserves.
Dr. Eric Dinerstein
Chief Scientist, World Wildlife Fund
1250 24th St NW
Washington DC 20037
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