China’s big catch

Shrinking habitat remains a daunting challenge,but conservationists say the biggest threat to Asia’s largest predator is the Chinese appetite for tiger parts. Despite a government ban on the trade since 1993,there is a robust market for tiger bones,traditionally prized for their healing and aphrodisiac qualities,and tiger skins,which have become cherished trophies among China’s nouveau riche.

With pelts selling for $20,000 and a single paw worth as much as $1,000,the value of a dead tiger has never been higher. “All of the demand for tiger parts is coming from China,” said Belinda Wright,executive director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India. “Unless the Chinese change their attitude,the tiger has no future on this earth.”

Although conservationists say India must do a better job of policing its 37 tiger reserves,they insist the Chinese government has not done all it can to quell demand for illicit tiger parts. China bans the use of tiger parts in traditional Chinese medicine but overlooks the sale of alcohol-based health tonics steeped in tiger bone.

It is a gray area that has been exploited by Chinese tiger farms,which raise thousands of animals with assembly-line efficiency. If there is any mystery about what happens to the big cats at Xiongsen Tiger and Bear Mountain Village in Guilin,it is partly explained in the gift shop,where fuzz-coated bottles in the shape of a tiger are filled with “bone strengthening” wine. The liquor is sold openly across the surrounding Guangxi region and beyond.

“This stuff works wonders,” said Zhang Hanchu,the owner of a spirits shop. A daily shot glass of the rice-based alcohol,he said,can reduce joint stiffness,treat rheumatism and increase sexual vigour. With the Year of the Tiger nearing,demand has been soaring,he said.

Xiongsen is China’s largest tiger-breeding operation. Some of its 1,500 tigers roam treeless,fenced-in areas,while many others are packed in small cages where they pace agitatedly.

In addition to the tigers,there are hundreds of capuchin monkeys rattling in cages,awaiting their fate as fodder for medicinal elixirs or medical experiments. There are also about 300 Asiatic brown bears which are tapped for their bile,the main ingredient of a lucrative supplement said to improve eyesight.

Until a spate of negative press two years ago,Xiongsen proudly sold tiger steaks at its restaurant as “big king meat.” Now,the word “tiger” no longer appears on the wine packaging—”rare animal bones” is used instead—although those who sell the wine say the key ingredient remains tiger bone.

A woman who answered the phone at Xiongsen’s winery said the owner,Zhou Weisen,was not available,but she insisted that tigers were not an ingredient in the 200,000 bottles a liquor produced each year.

The Chinese government has fuelled the market in tiger parts by letting such farms exist,critics say. Although the State Forestry Administration reiterated its support for the ban on the trade of tigers last December,it reconsiders the restrictions each year,giving hope to the politically powerful owners of China’s 20 tiger farms.

Debbie Banks,who runs the tiger campaign at the Environmental Investigation Agency in London,said China’s stated resolve to help end the international trade in tigers was diluted by its ambivalent stand on domestic sales. “The government is stimulating and perpetuating demand,which is the real problem we’re facing,” she said.

Despite the grim news,conservationists say the coming year also presents an opportunity to raise awareness about the problem. All the hoopla surrounding the Year of the Tiger has captured the attention of many nations,especially China,whose government is sensitive to criticisms that it is encouraging the tiger’s extinction. In September,Russia and the World Bank will host a summit meeting on tigers that conservationists hope will yield a solid plan to restore plummeting tiger populations.

James Compton,Asia program director for TRAFFIC,which monitors the global wildlife trade,thinks the most important step would be for China and other nations to elevate the interdiction of tiger parts to that of illicit drugs. “It’s not rocket science to knock out the big traders,” he said,adding that bodies like Interpol and the World Customs Organization should take on the fight.

Guarded optimism aside,Compton cannot help but recall the last time the Year of the Tiger came around,in 1998. There was similar talk then of using the occasion to marshal the international community. He also has a vivid memory of the poster produced for the occasion. Its pitch: “Save the Last 5,000 Tigers.”