Photo Courtesy of CKMC
email: rebeccaxie@actcm.edu
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REDUCING DEMAND FOR TIGER MEDICINAL PRODUCTS
Conservation Challenge: While the tiger faces a range of pressures, including habitat loss and depletion of its prey base, conservationists now believe that poaching is the most immediate threat to tigers -- the threat that could push the species to extinction faster than any other factor. While poaching can be driven by various motives, including defense of livestock and human lives, one of the most serious underlying factors is the continuing demand for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) containing tiger bone. Wild tiger populations are now so severely depleted that they need absolute protection from all human impacts, including use of their bones in TCM.
Contrary to a common misunderstanding, tiger bone has never been used as an aphrodisiac in TCM. Instead, it has been used for at least 1,000 years to treat painful conditions such as arthritis and rheumatism. Despite East Asia’s radical industrialization in recent years, traditional Chinese medicine has had remarkable staying power -- and the use of tiger bone has persisted as well. In fact, trade in tiger medicinal products appears to have expanded during the late 80’s and into the 90’s. Staggering economic growth throughout the region yielded a steep rise in per capita income throughout East Asia. As the population increased, the number of people who could afford tiger products grew as well. And for some, traditional medicine offers a way to maintain a link to their unique cultural heritage in an ever more modern and homogenous world.
The principles of traditional Chinese medicine are unfamiliar and enigmatic to many people, including some of those who are working to eliminate the medicinal use of tiger and other endangered species products. Cultural sensitivity is an indispensable prerequisite to success in this endeavor. Past efforts by conservationists have often misfired, alienating the intended audience rather than enlisting their cooperation. But protecting the tiger and preserving the integrity of traditional Chinese medicine need not be in conflict. TCM emphasizes the close interrelationship among all species and the responsibility of humans to live in harmony with nature. This philosophical perspective meshes seamlessly with principles of wildlife conservation. Sharing this common ground, conservationists and the traditional Chinese medicine community can become partners in saving the tiger. A fundamental goal we can pursue together is reducing the demand for tiger bone medicines, ultimately taking the profit out of poaching.
Conservation Action:
The World Wildlife Fund has recently undertaken several ground-breaking activities aimed at reducing demand for tiger bone in traditional Chinese medicine. In October 1995 TRAFFIC, WWF’s wildlife trade monitoring program, hosted a symposium in Hong Kong that brought together traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, government regulatory officials, academics, and conservationists from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Europe and the U.S. The first event of its kind ever held, the symposium launched a productive new dialogue between TCM specialists and conservationists. Discussions revealed that most TCM participants did not know that tigers were severely endangered, and that few recognized the causal relationship between the tiger medicine trade and the decline of tigers in the wild. This accentuated the need for basic conservation education materials in Asian languages, and the importance of cooperative work between the TCM and conservation communities. WWF and other conservation groups have come to realize that we, too, have much to learn -- especially about how substitutes for tiger bone and other products can be found, and how to develop culturally appropriate messages to reduce reliance on endangered species medicines.
To shed light upon the needs and values of the TCM community, TRAFFIC East Asia recently conducted the first-ever demographic survey examining attitudes toward the medicinal use of tiger parts in Hong Kong. Until then, virtually no comprehensive analysis had been undertaken on the demographics of endangered species medicinal use. Following this model, WWF and TRAFFIC have conducted similar research to assess demand for tiger medicines among Chinese-Americans.
In 1998, the Chinese Year of the Tiger, WWF formed a unique partnership with The American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM) and the Chinese Association for World Wildlife Conservation. Together we organized a one-day event in San Francisco entitled Saving the Tiger, For our Children, For the Future: a Chinese-American and Wildlife Conservation Working Conference. This conference brought together TCM practitioners, educators, students, retailers, tiger experts, wildlife conservationists, state and federal government officials, and prominent leaders from San Francisco’s Chinese community to share the latest information about tiger conservation and alternatives to medicinal use of tiger bone. Participants developed community-based action plans and activities for reducing the use and trade of tiger and other endangered species. Activities under way include a consumer awareness campaign using shopping bags to convey key messages, a poster campaign involving over 50 retail herb stores, and the distribution of a children’s coloring book to Chinese language schools.
Based on data collected in 1998, WWF and TRAFFIC released the results of the first in-depth analysis of the reasons behind the demand for medicines containing tiger and other endangered species. In the study, A World Apart? Attitudes Towards Traditional Chinese Medicine and Endangered Species in Hong Kong and the United States, researchers found that traditional Chinese medicine consumers have little knowledge of the ingredients in the medicines they consume. The study also found that many consumers are not aware of the connection between the use of these medicines and the declines of these species. However, some 60 percent of the respondents claimed they would not use medicines containing these wild animal parts if alternatives were available, and a significant proportion expressed concern about endangered species. The findings will be used to help develop culturally appropriate initiatives to decrease the use of such medicines.
In January 1999, WWF published a brochure on alternatives to tiger bone medicines, which highlights a number of alternatives to tiger-based patented medicinal products readily available on international markets. This first-ever publication will be an important tool in building public support for reducing demand for tiger medicines.
WWF outreach is paying off. WWF conducted a survey in 1999 revealing that attitudes among Chinese-Americans towards endangered species and TCM are changing in San Francisco. Since 1997, there has been a substantial increase in the belief that human threats to endangered species must be stopped, including the use of these animals in Chinese medicine. More than half of the survey respondents (57%) now hold this view, compared to 39% in 1997. Furthermore, respondents are more willing to forgo TCM containing endangered species ingredients than they were in the past. Only 21% say they would continue to use a Chinese medicine if they found out it contained endangered species ingredients, compared to 32% in 1997.
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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. |
