Research by Debbie Banks
Next week in Geneva, a prime issue for a UN endangered species committee called Cites will be illegal trade in wild tigers. In this week's Green Room, Debbie Banks argues that a handful of businessmen want to reduce the tigers to nothing more than a luxury commodity.
Business interests have continued to breed tigers, speculating that the ban would one day be lifted and that they would be sitting on a valuable stockpile of body parts
"Bagh Bachao, Jungle Bachao, Bharat Bachao" is the rallying cry of NGOs and activists across India, and they're right: Save the Tiger, Save the Forest, Save India. The future of the tiger and its jungle home are inextricably linked to the survival of all of us, not just the people who live in tiger country.
Next week in Geneva, a prime issue for a UN endangered species committee called Cites will be illegal trade in wild tigers. In this week's Green Room, Debbie Banks argues that a handful of businessmen want to reduce the tigers to nothing more than a luxury commodity.
Business interests have continued to breed tigers, speculating that the ban would one day be lifted and that they would be sitting on a valuable stockpile of body parts
"Bagh Bachao, Jungle Bachao, Bharat Bachao" is the rallying cry of NGOs and activists across India, and they're right: Save the Tiger, Save the Forest, Save India. The future of the tiger and its jungle home are inextricably linked to the survival of all of us, not just the people who live in tiger country.
The forests that are protected in the name of the tiger are vital to mitigate climate change and to secure water resources. The tiger is an indicator of the health of the ecosystem and thus a symbol of good governance and political commitment to an equitable and sustainable future. It is also a cultural and religious icon, venerated, feared and revered by communities across Asia and the world.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has been investigating and exposing the illegal trade in tigers and other Asian big cats for over 10 years." We have documented the changes in the markets and the increasing role of organised criminal networks."
"We have campaigned for more effective enforcement initiatives to disrupt their operations, and know there is so much more that governments could do if they wanted to."
Looking to the future, it is essential to plug some of the gaps in conservation strategies. Many people living alongside tigers have yet to benefit from the millions of tourist dollars that the "world's favourite animal" generates; but in India, home to the largest remaining population of wild tigers, investment, policy and practice are at least moving in the right direction.
The same cannot be said for other countries, where business interests are hijacking the tiger conservation agenda, calling for the relaxation of trade bans so they can flood the market with farmed tiger parts. The logic behind such a move is that since tigers breed well in captivity, farming them is an economical solution to satisfying demand while alleviating pressure on wild populations.
It's a simplistic logic that rests on critical assumptions about the complex nature and dynamics of the illegal trade in tigers and other Asian big cats.
Can farming tigers reduce pressure on their cousins in the wild?
Assumptions about the motivations of those involved in the trade, the costs of the trade, the scale and type of consumer demand: all plugged in to economic models and squirted out the other side as gospel.
What the followers of this faith have failed to acknowledge is that their version of events does not hold true in the real world. The risk of proceeding with this as an experiment is enormous, and the stake is no less than the extinction of the wild tiger.
So who are these disciples and what is their motivation? There are tiger farms in Thailand but by far the biggest ones are in China, where there are reportedly around 5,000 animals in captivity.
Despite a 1993 ban prohibiting the sale and use of tigers in China, business interests have continued to breed them, speculating that the ban would one day be lifted and that they would be sitting on a valuable stockpile of body parts.
Some argue that they want to sell tiger bone to save lives. Yet the Chinese medicinal community has long since promoted alternatives to tiger bone, which was never considered a life-saving ingredient in the first place.
Others just want to sell tiger bone wine. In fact, some businessmen are so keen they have already been found in breach of Chinese law, illegally selling the wine in tiger-shaped bottles and in one case, selling tiger meat.
EIA and others have found tiger bone wine being marketed as a general tonic and packaged as the gift that wins promotions and seals deals. Call it a conflict of interest, but there has been no meaningful enforcement action by the relevant authorities to stop this trade.
Why breed such beautiful and rare animals just to cut them up and sell the parts?
Please see comments under 'Relationships'.
ReplyDeleteI did and thank you,that means a lot to me coming from you, I do better when I just talk from my heart,as you know sometime my feeling runs deep,I just have to say what is own my mind,regardless of what it is.I just open my mouth and it comes pouring out. But I don't have to tell you that,you have seen it first hand..(GIGGLES)
ReplyDeleteWill these fools never learn.Ain't we sending ourselves to hell in a handbasket? Those are gorgeous animals,they are here for all to enjoy,not just a bunch of old fart-arse rich business men.
ReplyDeleteMore people should wake up and smell the roses.Have they notice everything is disappearing slowly ,we will be out of food shortly,because the bees is few in number. A lot of people fail to realize that everything is going to try and survive,and man better watch out,they might get us first.