Rare animal body parts seized in London

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http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/4408276?source=Evening%20Standar

 

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Rare animal body parts seized

By Justin Davenport, Crime Correspondent, Evening Standard

London Evening Standard 17 April 2003

 

A gruesome cache of 300 illegal body parts of endangered animals was

seized

in a raid on a Chinese medicine shop in the West End.

 

Parts of bears, wild ass, musk deer, turtles, monkeys, sea horses and

four

types of rare plant were uncovered in the raid in Wardour Street by the

Met's Wildlife Crime Unit.

 

Wildlife liaison officer Andy Fisher said gall bladders from bears and

parts

of musk deer can be sold by poachers for huge sums to fuel the growing

popularity of Chinese medicine in the West, he said.

 

These items have been used in Chinese medicine for hundreds of years to

 

cure anything from haemorrhoids to rheumatism. He said: " Bear gall

bladder

is used in a product for haemorrhoids. Things like bear and musk can

sell

for very high prices - you could be talking about four figure sums. "

 

He said he expects the unit will make more similar discoveries.

 

" There has been an increase in Western interest and we estimate there

may be

upwards of 1,000 shops in London, " he said.

 

" There has been huge growth in the last 10 years so the sale of illegal

products is bound to increase. Many of the products are made in south

Asia

and China and then exported all over the world.

 

" The endangered species come from all continents - poaching is

everywhere

they are. "

 

The raid forms part of Operation Charm, responsible for the seizure of

25,000 items made from endangered species in the capital in the last

eight

years.

 

Mr Fisher said: " Tigers, rhinos and bears have been found all over

London in

Operation Charm. "

 

Among other finds have been shahtoosh shawls, made from the wool of a

rare

species of antelope from western China. The extra fine wool can sell for

 

thousands of pounds here, he said. Some of the more unusual finds have

been

donated to the Natural History Museum, though most are destroyed.

 

Mr Fisher said the owner of the shop will be interviewed with a view to

prosecution although in their present form the animal products have a

minimal street value.

 

" In this form they are probably not very valuable but the raw material

would

be very valuable - the demand exceeds the supply. "

 

However, he said people should not stop using Chinese remedies, adding:

" There's no reason not to use it but people should be as sure as they

can be

that they are not buying anything endangered. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--

Dave Neale

Animals Asia Foundation

 

Find out more about the historic China Bear Rescue by visiting the

Animals Asia Foundation website at http://www.animalsasia.org