Posted on 19 November
2010
Bangkok, Thailand—Black markets along Myanmar,
Thailand and China’s shared borders play
a crucial role facilitating the deadly illicit
trade in tigers and other endangered species
say TRAFFIC and WWF in the lead up to the
International Tiger Conservation Forum starting
Sunday in St Petersburg, Russia.
The report is accompanied
by a short documentary called Closing a
Deadly Gateway that illustrates the illegal
trade described in the report. The film
shows interviews with poachers and alarming
footage of butchered tigers.
“With as few as 3,200
wild tigers worldwide, the ongoing large-scale
trade documented in this report cannot be
taken lightly. Illegal trade poses the most
immediate and dire threat to the survival
of tigers. Moreover, it puts all Asia’s
big felines at serious risk,” noted TRAFFIC
Southeast Asia Regional Director, William
Schaedla.
“Wildlife laws in Myanmar
and Thailand clearly prohibit trafficking
in tigers and other big cats. We urge authorities
to bring the full weight of the law to bear
upon traffickers.”
Provincial markets and
retail outlets at the Myanmar towns of Mong
La, near the China border and Tachilek,
on the Thai border, were found to play a
pivotal role in the large scale distribution
of big cat parts including whole skins,
bones, paws, penises, and teeth. The products
are transported by road and sea into China
and Thailand or sold to Chinese nationals
who cross the Myanmar border to gamble and
consume exotic wildlife.
The report comes as
tiger range State governments, including
representatives from Myanmar, China, and
Thailand, are expected to meet in St. Petersburg,
Russia hosted by Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin.
“A critical part of
saving wild tigers must be to shut down
the illegal trade in tiger parts,” said
Michael Baltzer, head of WWF’s Tigers Alive
initiative. “With all the tiger range countries
convening this month in Russia for a groundbreaking
summit on the future of the tiger, illegal
trade such as this must stay front and centre
in the negotiations.”
Findings point to a
flourishing illegal trade in tigers and
other wildlife through Myanmar that thrives
despite national and international laws.
The majority of this trade occurs in non-government
controlled areas between northern Myanmar
and southern China. The fact that these
areas maintain their own governments not
linked to Myanmar’s capital poses difficulty
co-ordinating effective enforcement action.
“There is an urgent
need to step up efforts if the region is
to save its declining tiger populations.
We need to enhance information gathering
and ensure government and non-government
agencies share information in transparent
and timely ways from the local level to
the regional scale,” said Peter Cutter,
Coordinator for WWF Greater Mekong Region’s
tiger conservation in Thailand.
Tiger populations in
the Greater Mekong—an area that includes
Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and
Viet Nam—have plummeted from an estimated
1,200 during the last Year of the Tiger
in 1998 to about 350 today.
“Alarmingly, the landscape
between Myanmar and Thailand holds the greatest
hope for tiger population recovery in this
region,” said Cutter, “but this can only
happen if there are unprecedented and co-ordinated
regional efforts to tackle illegal wildlife
trade.”
The TRAFFIC/WWF report found whole animals
as well as parts and derivatives are sourced
within Myanmar and from Lao PDR, Thailand,
Malaysia, India and Indonesia; then trafficked
across national borders into non-government
controlled areas in Myanmar. Wildlife traders
in Myanmar’s non-government controlled areas
reported that high profit margins, corrupt
authorities and little fear of recrimination
enables them to trade openly in prohibited
wildlife. While local communities are sometimes
involved, they are rarely major drivers
of the illegal activities.
TRAFFIC Southeast Asia
Director, William Schaedla, summarized the
problem. “The area is struggling with governance
and tigers are easy money for everyone from
mafia types to anti-government opposition
groups. Some of these players should be
countered with direct enforcement actions.
Others might be receptive to work through
regional agreements and international bodies
in order to address the problem.”
