China tries to rewrite the prescription for tigers

[Guest guest]

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

 

China tries to rewrite the prescription for tigers

 

HONG KONG--Trying to reshape world opinion about tiger

conservation, in hopes of reopening legal commerce in tiger parts,

the State Forestry Administration of China during the second week of

June 2006 hosted visits to two major tiger farms by four outside

" experts. "

Three of them soon extensively praised Chinese tiger programs

in published statements.

Free market economic advocate Baron Mitra, who directs the

Liberty Institute in Delhi, India, in a guest column for India

Today unfavorably compared tbe faltering Indian effort to conserve

wild tigers with the Chinese proliferation of tigers in captivity.

" There are around 20 tiger-breeding facilities in China, "

Mitra stated. " While most are small, some are quite large. A

40-hectare tiger and bear park in the town of Guilin houses around

1,000 tigers. This is a major tourist destination, but the revenue

from tourism is nowhere near adequate to meet the cost of raising a

tiger. To meet the expense, " Mitra asserted, " this park has been

completely mortgaged to banks. Some years ago, it had to destroy a

stock of bones from dead tigers, because the cost of refrigeration

was too high.

" Yet Chinese entrepreneurs and wildlife managers look

optimistic, " Mitra continued. " An adult tiger leaves behind about

12 to 15 kilograms of dry bones, which could sell for $500-$1,000

per kilo in the traditional Chinese medicine market. The skin,

claws, and some other organs could fetch another $10,000. In

addition, there is a constant demand for purebred subspecies of live

tiger cubs and young adults from zoos and other establishments around

the world. Tiger farms are eminently viable financially, " Mitra

argued, saying nothing of the irony that his opinions about tigers

were sought by a government which does not allow much public

discussion of his economic philosophy.

The tigers whom the delegation saw " lived in conditions

comparable to what I would call a 'basic' zoo, " said fellow tour

member Kristen Conrad. " Some of the animals were roaming around

large semi-natural enclosures, " with " More room than what I see in

Singapore, the American Zoo Association-certified zoo of which I was

a board member, and at the San Diego Zoo.

" I think it can be more humane to kill a zoo animal " than to

kill wildlife, Conrad added.

San Diego-based blogger Cory Meacham had the strongest

credentials as tiger conservationist, journalist, and observer of

China among the identified tour participants, as author of How The

Tiger Lost Its Stripes (1997) and a speaker of Mandarin. He also

raised the most criticisms of the Chinese agenda for tigers, while

appearing to endorse the economic theory behind it.

" In 1993, " Meacham recapped, " China installed a ban on the

domestic trade of anything derived from a tiger, " two years after

China signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species. " Farms that bred tigers to supply the domestic trade were

converted by mandate into less profitable exhibition-only facilities,

unless they were willing to indulge in the black market.

" We were not paid for our time, " Meacham disclosed, " but

all our expenses were covered. Only one of my three colleagues had

ever even heard of me a month ago, " he admitted.

" We were presented to park operators, local and regional

politicos, wildlife management, law enforcement, educational

establishments, and many emissaries from the traditional Chinese

medicine community. Banners heralded our arrivals, banquets took

place in our honor, and on one occasion our advent was accompanied

by stand-up applause. Cameras were focused on us continuously. We

even found ourselves in a motorcade ushered fore and aft by police

cars with lights flashing and sirens blaring.

" We were of course being buttered up, trotted out, and

carefully guided, " Meacham acknowledged, noting " the lack of time

we were granted to ask questions and listen to answers.

" The tigers now housed in at least two tiger-breeding

facilities in China, a thousand or so of whom I've just been up

close and personal with, are happy cats, " Meacham asserted. " None

of the tiger farmers we met in China has plans to kill tigers, "

Meacham claimed, " and they even looked a bit confused when we

brought up such plans. Their plan is to breed enough tigers to

satisfy the demand for tiger parts with the bodies of tigers who die

naturally. That's right, no slaughter. Indeed, those farmers have

been letting their tigers die naturally since 1993, " Meacham wrote,

" and have been stockpiling the cadavers in walk-in freezers, awaiting

the day the ban might be lifted.

" China still has a couple of enormous blind spots and some

very big problems with their tiger-farming plans, " Meacham allowed.

" In my opinion what they are on the verge of doing is going to spell

either the doom or the salvation of the wild tiger. "

Commented Asia Animal Protection Network founder John

Wedderburn, of Hong Kong, after AAPN shared the Mitra, Conrad,

and Meacham commentaries with the international animal welfare

community, " I would prefer extinction of my species to a future of

captivity, certainly of captivity in the conditions currently

offered in Chinese zoos. "

Wedderburn has visited and reviewed dozens of Chinese zoos

since 1994, revisiting many, also frequently reviewing zoos in

other parts of the world, always as an uninvited guest whose

presence is seldom known to officials until afterward.

Rumors that China might again allow the sale of tiger

products surfaced earlier in reports from Agence France-Press and The

Independent, of London, in September 2005.

" Make no bones about it--this could be the end for tigers, "

warned World Wildlife Fund tiger conservation program chief Callum

Rankin. " Poachers living near the world's last populations of tigers

may kill them to supply illegal markets that are likely to develop

alongside any new legal ones. "

" If this goes ahead, it will undo all the excellent work that

the Chinese government has done over the past 12 years, " agreed

Steven Broad, executive director of the WWF-sponsored wildlife

monitoring group TRAFFIC International.

" This single decision by the Chinese, if they decide to lift

the ban, could be the turning point and drive the tigers into

extinction, " agreed Crawford Allan, North American deputy director

of TRAFFIC.

Wrote Maxine Frith of The Indep-endent, " The charities

believe that the Chinese government is bowing to pressure from tiger

farmers and traditional medicine practitioners. Observers believe

that many of the farmers are breeding far more tigers than zoos need

because they believe the ban will be lifted, and trade in their body

parts will resume. One tiger park in Guilin, Guangxi province,

claims to be able to raise up to 1,000 tigers. "

As of March 2006, China had 4,000 captive-bred tigers, among

them 1,300 Siberian tigers, but had fewer than 100 tigers left in

the wild, including no more than 10 Siberians, said Zhuo Rongsheng,

director of wildlife and plant protection department for the State

Forestry Administration.

However, the wild Manchurian tiger population in China has

increased from five to seven in 1999 to 14 as of April 2006,

according to findings by the Academy of Wildlife of Heilongjiang

Province.

A controversial attempt to raise tigers under wild conditions

in South Africa for release in China is still underway, three years

after the first of four cubs arrived from China. The project is

directed by former fashion executive Li Quan, 44.

Zimbabwean tourism minister Francis Nhema in September 2005

told Reuters that he expected to soon receive four tigers from China,

who would be used in a similar project. " We do not have a tiger in

this country, and we would like to benefit from the exchange program

with China, " Nhema said. " We have also given China various animals

for breeding, including zebra, impala and elephants, " he added.

 

--Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

 

--

Kim Bartlett, Publisher of ANIMAL PEOPLE Newspaper

Postal mailing address: P.O. Box 960, Clinton WA 98236 U.S.A.

CORRECT EMAIL ADDRESS IS: <ANPEOPLE

Website: http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/ with French and Spanish

language subsections.

[Guest guest]

 The Zoo can not be called ideal or near natural home for the wildlife.Animals

in capitivity suffer a lot in zoos though they have not to run for food or

shelter.

> The words of Kristen Conrad " I think it can be more humane to kill a zoo

animal " than to kill wildlife " seem funny.As killing another creature cannot be

humane Act.The pain and agony is felt by those killed, not by those

advocate " Humane " Killing.

 

The trade of wildlife or Body parts of wild and endangered animals (Inc. from

animals Died of natural death)must not be encouraged or supported.

International Authorities like CITES,WWF and all animal welfare /conservation

groups should rise strongly against this.

Sandeep K.Jain

India

 

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 Kim Bartlett wrote :

> From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

>

>China tries to rewrite the prescription for tigers

>

> HONG KONG--Trying to reshape world opinion about tiger

>conservation, in hopes of reopening legal commerce in tiger parts,

>the State Forestry Administration of China during the second week of

>June 2006 hosted visits to two major tiger farms by four outside

> " experts. "

> Three of them soon extensively praised Chinese tiger programs

>in published statements.

> Free market economic advocate Baron Mitra, who directs the

>Liberty Institute in Delhi, India, in a guest column for India

>Today unfavorably compared tbe faltering Indian effort to conserve

>wild tigers with the Chinese proliferation of tigers in captivity.

> " There are around 20 tiger-breeding facilities in China, "

>Mitra stated. " While most are small, some are quite large. A

>40-hectare tiger and bear park in the town of Guilin houses around

>1,000 tigers. This is a major tourist destination, but the revenue

> from tourism is nowhere near adequate to meet the cost of raising a

>tiger. To meet the expense, " Mitra asserted, " this park has been

>completely mortgaged to banks. Some years ago, it had to destroy a

>stock of bones from dead tigers, because the cost of refrigeration

>was too high.

> " Yet Chinese entrepreneurs and wildlife managers look

>optimistic, " Mitra continued. " An adult tiger leaves behind about

>12 to 15 kilograms of dry bones, which could sell for $500-$1,000

>per kilo in the traditional Chinese medicine market. The skin,

>claws, and some other organs could fetch another $10,000. In

>addition, there is a constant demand for purebred subspecies of live

>tiger cubs and young adults from zoos and other establishments around

>the world. Tiger farms are eminently viable financially, " Mitra

>argued, saying nothing of the irony that his opinions about tigers

>were sought by a government which does not allow much public

>discussion of his economic philosophy.

> The tigers whom the delegation saw " lived in conditions

>comparable to what I would call a 'basic' zoo, " said fellow tour

>member Kristen Conrad. " Some of the animals were roaming around

>large semi-natural enclosures, " with " More room than what I see in

>Singapore, the American Zoo Association-certified zoo of which I was

>a board member, and at the San Diego Zoo.

> " I think it can be more humane to kill a zoo animal " than to

>kill wildlife, Conrad added.

> San Diego-based blogger Cory Meacham had the strongest

>credentials as tiger conservationist, journalist, and observer of

>China among the identified tour participants, as author of How The

>Tiger Lost Its Stripes (1997) and a speaker of Mandarin. He also

>raised the most criticisms of the Chinese agenda for tigers, while

>appearing to endorse the economic theory behind it.

> " In 1993, " Meacham recapped, " China installed a ban on the

>domestic trade of anything derived from a tiger, " two years after

>China signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered

>Species. " Farms that bred tigers to supply the domestic trade were

>converted by mandate into less profitable exhibition-only facilities,

>unless they were willing to indulge in the black market.

> " We were not paid for our time, " Meacham disclosed, " but

>all our expenses were covered. Only one of my three colleagues had

>ever even heard of me a month ago, " he admitted.

> " We were presented to park operators, local and regional

>politicos, wildlife management, law enforcement, educational

>establishments, and many emissaries from the traditional Chinese

>medicine community. Banners heralded our arrivals, banquets took

>place in our honor, and on one occasion our advent was accompanied

>by stand-up applause. Cameras were focused on us continuously. We

>even found ourselves in a motorcade ushered fore and aft by police

>cars with lights flashing and sirens blaring.

> " We were of course being buttered up, trotted out, and

>carefully guided, " Meacham acknowledged, noting " the lack of time

>we were granted to ask questions and listen to answers.

> " The tigers now housed in at least two tiger-breeding

>facilities in China, a thousand or so of whom I've just been up

>close and personal with, are happy cats, " Meacham asserted. " None

>of the tiger farmers we met in China has plans to kill tigers, "

>Meacham claimed, " and they even looked a bit confused when we

>brought up such plans. Their plan is to breed enough tigers to

>satisfy the demand for tiger parts with the bodies of tigers who die

>naturally. That's right, no slaughter. Indeed, those farmers have

>been letting their tigers die naturally since 1993, " Meacham wrote,

> " and have been stockpiling the cadavers in walk-in freezers, awaiting

>the day the ban might be lifted.

> " China still has a couple of enormous blind spots and some

>very big problems with their tiger-farming plans, " Meacham allowed.

> " In my opinion what they are on the verge of doing is going to spell

>either the doom or the salvation of the wild tiger. "

> Commented Asia Animal Protection Network founder John

>Wedderburn, of Hong Kong, after AAPN shared the Mitra, Conrad,

>and Meacham commentaries with the international animal welfare

>community, " I would prefer extinction of my species to a future of

>captivity, certainly of captivity in the conditions currently

>offered in Chinese zoos. "

> Wedderburn has visited and reviewed dozens of Chinese zoos

>since 1994, revisiting many, also frequently reviewing zoos in

>other parts of the world, always as an uninvited guest whose

>presence is seldom known to officials until afterward.

> Rumors that China might again allow the sale of tiger

>products surfaced earlier in reports from Agence France-Press and The

>Independent, of London, in September 2005.

> " Make no bones about it--this could be the end for tigers, "

>warned World Wildlife Fund tiger conservation program chief Callum

>Rankin. " Poachers living near the world's last populations of tigers

>may kill them to supply illegal markets that are likely to develop

>alongside any new legal ones. "

> " If this goes ahead, it will undo all the excellent work that

>the Chinese government has done over the past 12 years, " agreed

>Steven Broad, executive director of the WWF-sponsored wildlife

>monitoring group TRAFFIC International.

> " This single decision by the Chinese, if they decide to lift

>the ban, could be the turning point and drive the tigers into

>extinction, " agreed Crawford Allan, North American deputy director

>of TRAFFIC.

> Wrote Maxine Frith of The Indep-endent, " The charities

>believe that the Chinese government is bowing to pressure from tiger

>farmers and traditional medicine practitioners. Observers believe

>that many of the farmers are breeding far more tigers than zoos need

>because they believe the ban will be lifted, and trade in their body

>parts will resume. One tiger park in Guilin, Guangxi province,

>claims to be able to raise up to 1,000 tigers. "

> As of March 2006, China had 4,000 captive-bred tigers, among

>them 1,300 Siberian tigers, but had fewer than 100 tigers left in

>the wild, including no more than 10 Siberians, said Zhuo Rongsheng,

>director of wildlife and plant protection department for the State

>Forestry Administration.

> However, the wild Manchurian tiger population in China has

>increased from five to seven in 1999 to 14 as of April 2006,

>according to findings by the Academy of Wildlife of Heilongjiang

>Province.

> A controversial attempt to raise tigers under wild conditions

>in South Africa for release in China is still underway, three years

>after the first of four cubs arrived from China. The project is

>directed by former fashion executive Li Quan, 44.

> Zimbabwean tourism minister Francis Nhema in September 2005

>told Reuters that he expected to soon receive four tigers from China,

>who would be used in a similar project. " We do not have a tiger in

>this country, and we would like to benefit from the exchange program

>with China, " Nhema said. " We have also given China various animals

>for breeding, including zebra, impala and elephants, " he added.

>

>--Merritt Clifton

>Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

>

>--

>Kim Bartlett, Publisher of ANIMAL PEOPLE Newspaper

>Postal mailing address: P.O. Box 960, Clinton WA 98236 U.S.A.

>CORRECT EMAIL ADDRESS IS: <ANPEOPLE

>Website: http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/ with French and Spanish

>language subsections.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>For more information on Asian animal issues, please use the search feature on

the AAPN website: http://www.aapn.org/ or search the list archives at:

aapn

>Please feel free to send any relevant news or comments to the list at

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>