By NNN-Bernama,
New Delhi : Indian tigers, whose numbers have dwindled to 1,411, are facing poaching threat from demand in China, where parts of wild big cats are preferred over those sourced from official breeding farms, according to Press Trust of India (PTI) on Wednesday.
Citing to recent reports, PTI said there are now less than 50 wild tigers in China, which has banned trade in tigers and parts – like pelts and bones used in wines, aphrodisiacs and traditional Chinese medicines.
Such parts are now harvested from captive breeding farms that currently hold over 6,000 tigers.
“Consumers in China prefer parts from wild tigers and not ones bred in farms, and this demand is proving to be a direct threat to the wild tigers in India,” says Belinda Wright of Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI).
This is not to say there is no awareness of the threat to tigers in China. In fact, following a total depletion of its wild tigers, China banned trade in wild tiger parts and started seizing and arresting “tiger criminals” from 1993.
However, conservationists say that tiger parts are so central to Chinese culture that enforcement officials are often willing to turn a blind eye to trade in tiger parts and products.
The year 2010 may be an auspicious year in the almanac of the Chinese. But as China enters the “Year of the Tiger” on Feb 14, tiger conservationists have renewed their fears on the future of this fast-dwindling wild animal.
It is reported that no animal holds more fascination for the Chinese than the tiger, which is identified with progress, luck and charm, while its body parts are believed to hold high medicinal properties.
Consequently, even as the demand for its body parts is already high, it is slated to go up dramatically in the Year of the Tiger.