A conference of parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), being held at The Hague, the Netherlands, today passed a resolution that tigers should not be bred in captivity for body parts. The resolution was moved by India, China, Nepal and the Russian Federation. It urged Beijing to resist pressure from tiger farm owners to scrap a 14-year ban on using tigers for traditional medicines.

The resolution is in place for at least three years after which the next CITES conference will be held.

Conservationists hailed the decision by the 171-nation CITES as a victory for the big cats, only 5,500 of which survive in the wild.

After endorsing the draft resolution, China and some other parties to the convention wanted to move a few amendments but they were voted out. A change that they wanted was to insert the word “international” before “trade” in the sentence: “Tigers should not be bred for trade in parts and derivatives.” But the amendment sought did not get the required vote. Had the amendment been passed it would have meant that domestic trade could continue.

Earlier, introducing the draft, India gave a status report of initiatives being taken to stop the trade and said they could not imagine a world where a ban on tiger parts trade is lifted and urged all parties to stop tiger farming. India found support from other Range countries, such as, Bhutan, Nepal, Russia and Thailand. Other countries affected by wildlife trade such as Switzerland, Kenya and Malawi also spoke up in support of the draft.

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