Photo Courtesy of CKMC

  email: rebeccaxie@actcm.edu

CONTROLLING THE ILLEGAL TIGER TRADE:

BUILDING LAW ENFORCEMENT AND 
TRADE MONITORING CAPACITY

Conservation Challenge:

While tigers are threatened by habitat loss, a more immediate peril is that they are killed for their parts, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and can bring in huge profits for poachers and illegal traders. In tiger range countries, economic hardships are the norm, and the lure of an easy escape from poverty can be irresistible. All told, the parts of a single tiger can be sold for a sum of $10,000 or more, with the bones alone bringing in several hundred dollars per kilogram. Clearly, trade in tiger parts is a lucrative enterprise, and the fact that it is illegal is not much of a deterrent if poachers are not caught and punished. It is crucial, then, to help countries involved in the illegal import and export of tiger parts to strengthen their monitoring and law enforcement capacities.

Based on official reports and data extrapolated from confiscations, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan figure significantly in the tiger trade picture, both as end consumers and as manufacturers and exporters of pre-packaged or “patented” medicines containing or purporting to contain tiger products. While trade controls in some East Asian countries have improved markedly in recent years, North American and Western European countries have less stringent regulations and continue to be active markets for patented medicines containing protected species. According to a 1998 TRAFFIC investigation, 41% of traditional medicine shops surveyed in the U.S. sold medicines labeled as containing tiger or rhino parts.

Confiscations of tiger products and incidents of poaching in Russia, India, and Indochina increased in the early 1990s. Evidence suggests that this escalation is related to rising demand for tiger products in East Asia. As China draws ever closer to losing its indigenous wild tiger population and exhausting its last domestic stockpiles of tiger bone, market pressures for tiger products have shifted to other countries. Although it is hard to quantify precise trends in poaching and illicit trade, one incontrovertible fact remains: Wild tiger populations, already debilitated by habitat loss, prey depletion and genetic isolation, cannot sustain even limited commercial trade in their parts.

Conservation Action:

TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring program of WWF and IUCN-The World Conservation Union, regularly conducts market surveys in consumer countries and territories such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Singapore, Canada and the United States to assess the availability of tiger-based medicines. TRAFFIC also keeps track of illicit trade in tiger parts and analyzes trends of increased or shifting activity. To help strengthen law enforcement efforts in tiger trade countries, WWF supports training in investigative and evidence-gathering techniques so violators can be apprehended and convicted. WWF also consults with governments on legislative reform to add “teeth” to wildlife protection laws, ensuring that fines and jail terms are sufficient to deter would-be violators. WWF also supports anti-poaching patrols in the Russian Far East, Nepal, Bhutan, India, Vietnam, and other tiger range countries.

WWF also uses political influence when appropriate to encourage countries to crack down on illegal tiger trade and increase their support for tiger conservation efforts. WWF has been instrumental in bringing pressure to bear on Taiwan, China, South Korea, and other countries, through CITES (see box) and U.S. government action. In 1994, responding to a WWF petition, the Clinton administration imposed trade sanctions on Taiwan for its continuing trade in tiger and rhino products. These unprecedented sanctions, combined with increased action through CITES, led to a significant tightening of wildlife law enforcement in Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia. TRAFFIC reinforces these improvements by providing governments with guidance and technical assistance on CITES enforcement and implementation needs.

In response to the widespread availability of tiger-based products, WWF pushed for, and successfully achieved, passage of the Rhino and Tiger Product Labeling Act. Signed into law by President Clinton in October 1998, this legislation makes it illegal to sell any medicine labeled as containing tiger or rhino parts in the United States, whether or not the law enforcement agency prosecuting the violator can prove that these products are authentic. Previously, the complexities of obtaining the requisite forensic evidence discouraged law enforcement officials from initiating investigations. The new law carries a penalty of up to six months in prison, and fines up to $12,000 per violation. Similar legislation is under consideration in Canada.

Next Steps:

• Continue to investigate and document illegal trade in Russia, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the United States, and Europe.

• Provide support for training law enforcement officials in trade monitoring, investigation, and prosecution methods.

• Continue to support anti-poaching programs in key tiger range countries.

• Encourage state and federal regulatory agencies based in major port cities to establish interagency task forces on illegal medicinal trade, modeled after task forces already operating in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Urge these task forces to develop a coordinated nationwide strategy for shutting illicit medicinal products out of the U.S. market.

CITES - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, is an international conservation treaty signed by more than 140 nations to protect endangered animals and plants from the threat of illegal and excessive trade. For some species, import and export permits are required to ensure that trade remains sustainable; for endangered species, including tigers, no commercial trade is allowed. At the 1994 and 1997 CITES meetings, the parties adopted resolutions to step up individual and cooperative efforts to control illegal tiger trade.

ACTCM will

work with

herbal retailers,

schools,

community

groups,

and the

general

public

to provide

information

about saving

endangered

species and

using

substitute

medicines.

All of our

educational

materials

are available

online

for free

public use.

Publicity

events will

be

held,

educating

the

public

on how to

curb

marketplace

demand

at home.