Tiger parts being traded in Britain

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18 November 2006

TEN-DAY-OLD TIGER CUB, KILLED, STUFFED AND SOLD IN UK FOR £20,000

By Jeff Edwards Chief Crime Correspondent

 

A BABY tiger stares lifelessly after being illegally slaughtered, stuffed

and put on sale in Britain.

 

The 10-day-old cub was one of two mounted on plinths and offered as

grotesque £20,000-a-piece ornaments.

 

The helpless creatures were so young they would have still been blind when

they were killed by poachers.

 

Police put them on display yesterday as they launched a new blitz on the

growing illegal trade in rare animals - now worth £10billion.

 

Their campaign is being backed by four wildlife charities as well as stars

such as Ricky Gervais.

 

Comic Ricky, 45, said: " I find it incredible that anyone would want to buy a

product containing endangered animals. It's not just illegal, it's sick and

perverse. "

 

The cubs were among 65 items seized at just one store, Get Stuffed in

Islington, North London. Owner Robert Sclare got six months in jail.

 

Scotland Yard's Wildlife Crime Unit has seized more 30,000 artefacts in the

past two years.

 

The sickening haul includes a polar bear rug, rhino horn, gorilla, chimp and

wolf. Swoops have also found ivory shaving brushes at posh London barbershop

Geo F Trumper and a £15 purse from elephant skin.

 

Geo F Trumper, which has a Royal Warrant, was last month fined £10,000 for

stocking 24 ivory goods. Imports of the product were outlawed in 1990.

 

Police fear the rise in trafficking is fuelled by the popularity of Chinese

alternative remedies, often made from species such as tigers and rhinos.

 

They want London's 1,000 Chinese medicine shops to back their drive.

 

The trade in rare species, run by organised crime, has contributed to the

dramatic decline in their numbers.

 

Fewer than 5,000 tigers are left in the wild, down from 100,000 in 1900, and

just 20,000 polar bears. Some 98 per cent of black rhinos have been wiped

out since 1970 because of demand for their horns - used to make

aphrodisiacs.

 

Police believe London is a major hub of the world trade, with Met Deputy

Asst Commissioner Janet Williams saying the capital could " play a part in

helping to stop it " .

 

jeff.edwards

 

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