• Donate Now
  • Volunteer
  • Contact Us
Saturday, January 28, 2023
  • Login
  • Register
Big Cat Rescue
  • Get Involved
  • Cub Facts
  • The Sanctuary Cats
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
  • Videos
  • Donate
No Result
View All Result
Big Cat Rescue
  • Get Involved
  • Cub Facts
  • The Sanctuary Cats
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
  • Videos
  • Donate
No Result
View All Result
Big Cat Rescue
No Result
View All Result
Home News World

China considers legalising tiger trade to curb poaching

BCR by BCR
February 14, 2010
in News World
0 0
0
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

China considers legalising tiger trade to curb poaching

Ananth Krishnan
BEIJING, February 13, 2010

Even as China celebrates the start of the propitious Year of the Tiger this Sunday, conservationists fear the next 12 months could turn out to be rather inauspicious for the Big Cat.

Since the last ‘Tiger Year’ was celebrated in 1998, amid similar renewed pledges to Save the Cat, the tiger population has halved to 3,200. There are less than 50 wild tigers in China today. The South China Tiger has not even been seen in the wild in recent years, and many fear it has joined a growing list of extinct sub-species.

Much of the poaching in China is driven by demand for tiger parts in Traditional Chinese Medicine. In the bustling black markets of southern Guangdong, a tiger paw can still fetch as much as $1,000.

The government banned trade in 1993, which somewhat halted the decline. But it also sanctioned the setting up of controversial captive breeding farms, home to more than 6,000 tigers at present, from where parts are often harvested.

The government is now considering legalising trade in tiger parts, a move conservationists say will be the last nail in the coffin for the tiger. It argues that legalising trade and captive breeding are crucial to curbing poaching and illegal trade. But wildlife groups warn that the farms have helped to create additional demand, and point out that releasing captive-bred tigers in the wild is a fraught exercise.

“The Chinese government thinks the farms are not that big of a negative for conservation,” Xu Hongfa, China head of Traffic, a wildlife group leading the campaign to stop tiger trade, told The Hindu in a recent interview. But if China reopens trade, he says, the increased demand will be difficult to control.

The debate on tiger farms underscores the confusion that has surrounded strategies to save the tiger. Xie Yan, director of the China programme at the Wildlife Conservation Society, says the government has begun to realise that the current strategy is, indeed, a problem, though there is still a debate on how to deal with the 6,000 tigers in captivity.

Yin Hong, deputy director of China’s State Forestry Administration and one of the officials leading the government’s tiger strategy, even refutes the suggestion that TCM demand has led to poaching. “It is irresponsible to blame the previous practice of using tiger bones in TCM for the drastic reduction of global wild tiger species,” Ms. Yin said this week, defending the government’s conservation policy.

But Indian officials say the spurt in poaching in India, with at least 84 killings reported last year, has also been driven by China’s black market. The fate of India’s 1,400 wild tigers too rests on Beijing’s plans.

The Chinese government last month announced a new initiative to curb poaching around 20 natural reserves, but did not commit itself to phasing out the farms. Indian Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh told The Hindu the measures were “a small step forward.”

But the last hope for the tiger rests with a last ditch plan that the Chinese government and the World Bank are working on: a multi-million dollar, first-of-its-kind project to expand reserves and address human-tiger conflicts in northern China and Siberia, which will be unveiled at a September meeting in Russia.

Last month, at the first Asian ministerial conference on tiger conservation, all tiger range countries pledged to work towards doubling tiger numbers before 2022. Unless that promise is kept, wildlife groups will have little reason to cheer when the next Year of the Tiger comes around.

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article106248.ece?homepage=true

http://bigcatrescue.org


Tags: News World
Previous Post

Call for saving the tiger raised as China gets into year of the tiger

Next Post

WWF Nepal begins year of Tiger campaign in start of Year of Tiger

BCR

BCR

Big Cat Rescue is Caring for Cats and Ending the Trade

Related Posts

News World

Enrichment Program @ BIG CAT RESCUE!

May 7, 2022
110
Zanesville Massacre 18 tigers 17 lions 3 cougars gunned down  China considers legalising tiger trade to curb poaching jeg empty
News World

Zanesville Massacre 18 tigers 17 lions 3 cougars gunned down

October 20, 2021
10.3k
Vanessa Hudgens Shame  China considers legalising tiger trade to curb poaching jeg empty
Cat Laws

Cub Petting Shame

September 12, 2021
6.1k
Snow Leopard  China considers legalising tiger trade to curb poaching jeg empty
News @ BCR

Save Snow Leopards

April 17, 2021
6.2k
Big Cat Rescue does bobcat rehab and release of native, Florida bobcats.  China considers legalising tiger trade to curb poaching jeg empty
Articles by BCR

GoFree

March 29, 2020
2.7k
Next Post

WWF Nepal begins year of Tiger campaign in start of Year of Tiger

Leave a Reply

  • Default Comments (0)
  • Facebook Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Help Feed Big Cats

One of the best ways to help is through general donations that can be used however it is most needed at the time.To make a general donation just click the Donate Now button below.  This is the best way to give as it has the lowest credit card processing fees and is immediate help for the cats.

Give to Big Cat Rescue

If you prefer to donate via Pay Pal, please use this link: Pay Pal

Recent Articles

  • Insitu2021 January 17, 2023
  • Smell my beans! Priya tiger at Big Cat Rescue. January 13, 2023
  • Want! Kekoa and Makani rehab bobcats at Big Cat Rescue. January 13, 2023

Recent Comments

  • Deb Quimby on Koda Lioness
  • heather elliott on Sapphire
  • Jason Jenkins on Tiger Facts
  • Claire Pritchett on Koda Lioness
  • Deb Quimby on Jinx

Save Big Cats

Donate to Big Cat Rescue

Sanctuary Cats

  • Jaguars
  • Leopards
  • Lions
  • Tigers
  • Bobcats
  • Canada Lynx
  • Cougars
  • Ocelots
  • Savannah Cats
  • Servals

More from Big Cats

  • Big Cat Rescue is Live 24/7 on Webcams
  • Rescue Missions
  • About Big Cat Rescue
  • Big Cat Rescue News
  • Reviews
  • Our Recent Work
  • Sanctuary FAQs
  • Big Cat TV

Insitu2021

January 17, 2023
Smell my beans! Priya tiger at Big Cat Rescue.  China considers legalising tiger trade to curb poaching jeg empty

Smell my beans! Priya tiger at Big Cat Rescue.

January 13, 2023
Want! Kekoa and Makani rehab bobcats at Big Cat Rescue.  China considers legalising tiger trade to curb poaching jeg empty

Want! Kekoa and Makani rehab bobcats at Big Cat Rescue.

January 13, 2023

© Copyright 2023 BigCatRescue.Org. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • About BCR
  • Videos
  • Big Cat Facts
  • Cub Facts
  • Our Cat Stories
  • Sanctuary Cats
  • Shop and Save Cats
  • Volunteer
  • Donate
  • Abuse Issues
  • Contact Us

© Copyright 2023 BigCatRescue.Org. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist