Farmed

Sekuro (Siberian/Amur tiger) from Jungle Cat World.

With all the problems tigers are facing these days, the number of threats is actually increasing. One notable concern for the tiger conservation community is tiger farming and movements in China to lift China's 15-year ban on the trade in tiger parts and derivatives. A small, but influential lobby of farmers and pro-farming allies claim that by farming tigers for their body parts, pressure could be taken off of wild tigers. However, this ignores:

-those who use or have used tiger medicine prefer wild tigers
-it costs thousands of dollars to raise one tiger in captivity and as low as $1 to kill one in the wild
-parts from farmed tigers are indistinguishable from wild tigers and enforcement would be impossible.

Ultimately, lifting the tiger trade ban would open a legal market into which wild tigers would be laundered. Moreover, such a decision would reignite demand for tiger medicines that has actually been successfully reduced through law enforcement since the tiger trade ban was established in 1993; this would send a message to over 1 billion people that consuming tigers as medicine is okay, despite their current status and the availability of tiger safe alternatives that achieve the same effects.

This issue has prompted the formation of the International Tiger Coalition (of which I am a proud member), which is a body of over 40 conservation organizations who wish to speak out against tiger farming. Much work is currently being done prompt the Chinese government into establishing a permanent tiger trade ban. The good news is there are many sound arguments against farming and the tiger trade ban is overwhelmingly supported by the Chinese public. China has shown great leadership in tiger conservation and the tiger would be in a much poorer state if not for some of the decisions the government has made.

Will the tiger be farmed and eaten into extinction? I certainly hope not, but if certain people have their way, this image of the tiger might be all that&s left...and with empty forests, what's to stop developers from claiming the last wild places that remain? The fate of many - of both man and beast - could be determined by what is decided.

I'd be happy to receive questions and comments about this issue, including how you could get involved. I encourage those who are willing to add this to your favourites/collections or post it in your journal to get the message out there.

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Tigers are the largest of the big cats and are exclusively found in Asia from India to Vietnam, from Indonesia to the Russian Far East. The tiger can be divided into 9 subspecies: 4 are currently critically endangered and 3 are already extinct. Though estimations of tiger populations only a few years ago was 5,500-6,000, today populations are likely closer to 3,500 and are still declining. Dramatic declines of the tiger in India, thought to host the majority of the world's tigers, have fallen to less than 1,411. Overall, the past decade has seen a 40% reduction in tiger habitat, which now represents a mere 7% of its historic range. Poaching is a significant problem throughout the tiger's range, the demand for its body parts in traditional medicines, tonics, and exotic dishes driving a lucrative trade that is wiping out entire populations. Long-term threats include habitat fragmentation and prey depletion, which is accelerating the tiger's demise and subsequently reducing the long-term genetic viability of many populations.

If you want to help, the best for you to do is to educate yourself ([link]), never buy products made from tigers or endangered species ([link]), and tell others. Contact me for more information.