Tiger Farming in China

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

A number of you have responded to yesterday's posting of Barun Mitra's Op-Ed

on tiger farming. This is an important topic and public debate is

essential. To that end, I'd like to share my views and also some

information with you.

 

I was part of the delegation invited to China's State Forestry

Administration's Department of Wildlife Conservation to advise them on

lifting the 1993 ban on domestic trade in tiger parts. This issue has come

about due to a public enquiry made possible under the 2004 Public

Administration Act, which requires any government agency to respond to an

enquiry from the public within 90 days. China is considering four options,

ranging from retaining the ban to a pilot test to partial and full lifting

of the ban. Because of the complex nature of this issue, SFA has been able

to secure additional time to conduct the research required to take an

informed decision. The June delegation was part of that research. It should

be noted that a number of conservation experts were invited or

opinions sought, including the IUCN Cat Specialist Group, which declined to

attend. China invited me because I published an earlier paper on the tiger

breeding operation in Hengdaohezi and Harbin and because I developed a

proposal to conduct formal market and economic research into the issue; more

on that below.

 

It is not clear what lies behind the enquiry. Is is the breeders, who

continue to produce tigers and hence face economic pressure? Is it the

pharmaceutical companies, who stand to gain? Is this being driven by the

TCM community? I myself struggled with the underlying motive, and in the

end have concluded that it doesn't matter. If the end result is alleviation

of poaching pressure on the wild tiger populations, that's a good thing.

 

This is surely a gruesome thing to be considering. Ethics are a vital part

of the discussion, and while I have not dealt with them that does not mean

that I am discounting it. Rather, my expertise is in the business end and

would prefer to invite qualified ethicists to weigh in on the matter.

Personally, I do not believe that humans have any moral authority or

biological superiority that permits them to take the lives of other sentient

beings. As a vegetarian, I look upon captive breeding in much the same way

as raising domestic livestock, except that cats, and tigers in particular,

hold critical positions in the eco-systems and are necessary for healthy

functioning. This is one reason why they should be maintained in the wild,

but not the only reason. I also believe that any animal has an inherent

right to exist in its natural habitat, according to the laws of nature but

not man. However, I am also pragmatic and understand that China will go

ahead and do what it is going to do, regardless of what I think or want them

to do.

 

Before I went to China I made sure that SFA was aware that I neither

supported or opposed tiger farming (by that I mean commercial breeding of

tigers) and that my sole and overriding objective is the continued existence

of wild tigers roaming freely in their natural habitats.

 

We were taken to the tiger breeding facilities in Guilin and Harbin (which

collectively house more than 1,500 tigers), TCM hospitals, pharmacies,

medicine factories, as well as the Forestry University. We met with TCM

officials, SFA and CITES representatives, law enforcement and national,

provincial and local officials, and markets. Our group included officials,

TCM doctors and pharmacists, representatives from CITES and the Chinese

Welfare Association. This was a full-fledged tour, comparable to what had

been done for the panda. Sure, we saw and heard what they wanted us to see

and hear, but we also saw what many people do not get to see.

 

Each of the delegates was asked to write a report. Mine included the

research proposal which I mentioned above, and I stressed to SFA that they

must conduct such research prior to making any decision. I also made a

number of other recommendations to SFA which I would be happy to list if

there is interest.

 

My thinking on the issue is as follows:

1.. Current measures to protect the tiger are not effective. While

habitat is unquestionably the issue in the long term, poaching has reduced

many populations to relict status and has wiped out others. Once a

protected area has lost its tigers, political will to maintain that

protected area evaporates.

b.. Regardless of what I or others think about the efficacy of TCM,

" beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. We have tried to tell the Chinese

that alternatives to TCM exist, but that has little impact on demand. In

fact, the global TCM market is moving away from animal parts. And while

there are indeed TCM professionals in China and elsewhere who use

substitutes, there are many who swear by tiger bone. We simply cannot

dictate to people what to believe. There is a lack of information upon

which to take an informed decision about captive breeding. Conventional

wisdom holds that it is a bad way to go (will stimulate demand, allow an

entry point for poachers to legally sell their ill-gotten goods, farmed

tigers won't be accepted).

c.. It is now time to look at all possible conservation measures.

Positions against captive breeding have been taken, but in the absence of

any hard data. Instead, we have deeply held opinions, which do not give rise

to fact-based analysis, with the result being that we may be ruling out a

viable conservation tool. Once we have some firm data, then we can take an

informed position.

d.. Therefore we need to conduct a formal market research and economic

study to to ask the following questions. To do this study properly, one

would have to conduct primary and secondary research in China, and also

examine similar cases, such as ivory, rhino horn, and bear bile.

This is directly lifted from my report to SFA.

1. What tiger products are currently being purchased and consumed,

and by whom? For each different product, what are the current quantities

being consumed, and what prices are being paid for them?

 

 

2. To what extent might captive-bred tiger products be acceptable to

TCM and other consumers?

 

 

 

3. Would tiger farming ultimately alleviate commercially driven

poaching pressures on the wild populations? Can captive populations be

managed in such a way so as not to require unsustainable replenishment with

new stock from wild populations?

 

 

 

4. Are there ways to keep wild tiger derivatives from entering the

legal sales channels? To what extent can consumers be persuaded to buy

products from legal and sustainable sources rather than illegal ones?

 

 

 

5. How might the illegal trade network react to a competing legal

supply? Would it retaliate or simply shift to other

products/markets/businesses? What forms might retaliation take?

 

 

 

6. What would be the likely pricing model for an established, legal

supply? What are the cost structures of bringing captive-bred tigers to the

market (farming, production, marketing, distribution etc.) and illegal

supply (poaching, illegal trading, bribes etc.)?

 

 

 

7. Is running a tiger farm an economically viable business under

various scenarios (natural death, 10-years old, bones only). If not, are

there any legitimate grounds to subsidize it?

 

 

 

8. What role do fakes and substitutes have?

 

1.. In the end, it does not matter what we think, but rather what the

Chinese think. And if they are going to go ahead, then best that they do so

after a careful consideration of the issues.