Posted on 09 November
2010
Parts of at least 1,069
tigers have been seized in tiger range countries
over the past decade, according to new analysis
of tiger seizures carried out by TRAFFIC,
the wildlife trade monitoring network.
Reduced to Skin and
Bones shows that from January 2000 to April
2010, parts of between 1,069 and 1,220 tigers
were seized in 11 of the 13 tiger range
countries—or an average of 104 to 119 animals
per year.
Of the 11, India, China
and Nepal ranked highest in the number of
tiger part seizures, the report states,
with India by far the highest number of
tiger part seizures at 276, representing
between 469 and 533 tigers. China, with
40, had the second highest number of seizures,
or 116-124 tigers, and Nepal reported 39
seizures, or 113-130 tigers, according to
the report.
“Given half the world’s
tigers live in India, it’s no real surprise
the country has the highest number of seizures,
and while a high number of seizures could
indicate high levels of trade or effective
enforcement work, or a combination of both,
it does highlight the nation’s tigers are
facing severe poaching pressure,” said Pauline
Verheij, joint TRAFFIC and WWF Tiger Trade
Programme Manager and an author of the report.
“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.”
More enforcement needed
to save wild tigers
Tiger parts reported
in trade ranged from complete skins, skeletons
and even whole animals—live and dead, through
to bones, meat, claws, teeth, skulls, penises
and other body parts.
They are used by a variety
of cultures for decoration, in traditional
medicines and even as good luck charms.
“First and foremost,
the report demonstrates that illegal tiger
trade continues despite considerable and
repeated efforts to curtail it by many governments
and organizations in both consumer and range
countries,” said Mike Baltzer, leader of
WWF’s Tigers Alive initiative. TRAFFIC is
a joint programme of WWF and IUCN, the International
Union for Conservation of Nature.
“Clearly enforcement
efforts to date are either ineffective or
an insufficient deterrent,” said Baltzer.
“Not only must the risk of getting caught
increase significantly, but seizures and
arrests must also be followed up by swift
prosecution and adequate sentencing, reflecting
the seriousness of crimes against tigers.
The report also notes
an apparent increasing number of seizures
in Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand and Viet Nam.
Some areas stand out in the report as hot
spots in the illicit trade, including Nepal
as a transit country, and the India-Myanmar,
Malaysia-Thailand, Myanmar-China and the
Russia-China borders. Additionally, many
seizures take place within 50 km of protected
tiger areas, such as those in the Western
Ghats, Sundarbans and Terai Arc.
“But good enforcement
alone will not solve the problem. To save
tigers in the wild, concerted action is
needed to reduce the demand for Tiger parts
altogether in key countries in Asia,” said
Steven Broad, Executive Director of TRAFFIC.
Enforcement efforts
to date, the authors conclude “point to
a lack of political will among those responsible
at national and international levels for
protecting tigers from illegal killing and
trade.”
“A paradigm shift in
terms of commitment is needed and all stakeholders
will have to join forces to create an intelligence-driven,
well co-ordinated, trans-boundary and sustained
push against forces driving one of the most
legendary species on Earth to extinction,”
says the report.
In decline but hope
remains
Wild tiger numbers are
in steep decline, caused by a combination
of poaching and illegal trade in the animals
themselves, coupled with habitat loss and
encroachment and excessive poaching of key
prey species. A century ago there were around
100,000 wild Tigers; today the figure is
believed to be as few as 3,200.
The report comes as
heads of governments from tiger range states
prepare to meet at a tiger summit later
this month in St. Petersburg, Russia to
finalize the Global Tiger Recovery Program,
a plan that aims to double the number of
tigers in the wild by 2022. It will include
a major enforcement push by the International
Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC),
which comprises CITES, INTERPOL, the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World
Bank, and the World Customs Organization.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will host
the International Tiger Forum from 21–24
November and representatives from all 13
tiger range countries are expected to attend.
“The forthcoming summit
is a vital one for the future of wild tigers,
their very future hangs in the balance,”
said Broad.
