1,000 tigers 'killed in a decade' for illegal trade in prized body parts

Published on Wednesday 10 November 2010 15:10

MORE than 1,000 tigers have been killed over the last decade for illegal trade in parts such as skin and bones, and this is likely only a small fraction of the true numbers, a study by wildlife protection groups has found.

The new report says most of the tiger parts - including skins, bones, skulls and penises - were seized in India, China and Nepal and were destined for use in traditional medicines, decorations and even good-luck charms.

A major trafficking route, uncovered in recent years, begins in India - home of half the world's tigers - and ends in China, where tiger parts are highly prized as purported cures for a range of ailments and as aphrodisiacs.

Experts say China's economic boom has helped fuel the illegal trade, with more Chinese able to afford the expensive tiger products.

For the report by TRAFFIC, a total of 481 parts seizures were analysed, suggesting at least 1,069 tigers were killed between January 2000 to April 2010 in 11 of the 13 "tiger range" countries.

"A paradigm shift in terms of commitment is needed against forces driving one of the most legendary species on Earth to extinction," said the report.

It did not estimate the total number of tigers poached every year but said, "With parts of potentially more than 100 wild tigers actually seized each year, one can only speculate what the true numbers of animals are being plundered."

• An endangered species

The report comes before a "tiger summit" in St Petersburg, Russia, from 21-24 November that is to finalise a plan to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022.

There are believed to be as few as 3,200 wild tigers remaining, down from about 100,000 a century ago.

The conference, hosted by prime minister Vladimir Putin - who has taken a led in the preservsation of the species - is expected to include representatives from all 13 tiger range countries.

The report noted that an increasing number of seizures are being made in Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam.

It said illicit trade hotspots include Nepal as a transit country and the borders of India-Burma, Malaysia-Thailand, Burma-China and Russia-China.

"The data show that illegal tiger trade continues unabated despite considerable and repeated efforts to curtail it on the part of tiger range and consumer countries, inter-governmental organisations, and non-governmental organisations," the report said.

Many seizures take place within 30 miles of protected tiger areas like the Western Ghats in India, the Sundarbans of Bangladesh and Nepal's terai region.

"Enforcement efforts to date are either ineffective or an insufficient deterrent," the report quoted Mike Baltzer, a tiger expert with The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), as saying.But the report stressed enforcement alone would not curb trafficking and concerted effort was needed to curb demand for tiger parts.

China has come in for particular criticism for lacklustre attempts to wean its citizens from tiger products and those from other wild animals.

Tiger farms have sprung up in China to meet some of the demand, but critics say this has not slowed trafficking because of a widespread belief that medicines from wild tigers are more potent than those from farmed animals.

TRAFFIC is a joint program of the WWF and IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature.