tiger bone seizure in taiwan

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Taiwan Seizes Tiger Bones; Poaching Threatens Big Cat Survival

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_us & refer=asia & sid=arfj5sbHLGeQ

 

Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) -- A ``massive'' seizure of tiger bones in Taiwan

last month proves that poaching continues unabated, threatening the

survival of the big cat in Southeast Asia, according to Traffic, the

wildlife trade monitoring network.

 

More than 140 tiger bones, including 24 skulls, were found by the

Kaohsiung Customs authorities in southern Taiwan on July 4, in the

largest single seizure of tiger bone on the island, Traffic said a

statement posted on its Web site today.

 

The bones were hidden in a container of deer antlers from Jakarta that

was being exported to Taiwan for use in traditional medicines, along

with about 880 pounds (400 kg) of pangolin scales and five pieces of

carved ivory, Traffic said.

 

``Recent reports regarding the decline in tiger populations in some

protected areas in India have focused on poaching in South Asia,''

spokesman Sabri Zain said in a telephone interview from Cambridge,

southern England. ``This seizure has put the global spotlight firmly on

Southeast Asia as well.''

 

Tiger bones are used in traditional Chinese medicines to cure a variety

of problems ranging from fevers to rheumatism, Zain said. ``They are

sold wherever there is a demand -- mostly in China, but also in Europe

and the U.S.,'' he said.

 

Tiger bone is ground into powder before being made into pills, plasters

and decoctions containing herbs. Sometimes it's cut into segments and

soaked in wine. While nearly every part of a tiger has prescribed

benefits, according to the tenets of Chinese medicine, the bones are

considered the most valuable.

 

Indonesia was once home to three sub-species of tiger, the Balinese,

Javan and Sumatran. The Bali tigers became extinct due to illegal

killing for trade and loss of their habitat in the 1940's, and the Javan

in the 1970's. About 400 to 500 Sumatran tigers are left in the wild in

Sumatra, the statement said.

 

``Assuming that all these tiger parts (in last month's shipment) were

sourced from Sumatra, Indonesia is in real danger of losing its last

remaining tiger sub-species,'' according to Traffic, a joint program of

the World Wildlife Foundation, the Conservation Organization and the

World Conservation Union.

 

The news was released by the authorities in Chinese in July and the

report was this month translated into English, Zain said.

 

-- Editor: Hughey.

 

 

To contact the reporter on this story:

Caroline Alexander in London at Calexander1

 

Last Updated: August 8, 2005 11:48 EDT