(NEPAL): Poaching and trade ban top international tiger meeting agenda

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Poaching and trade ban top international tiger meeting agenda

 

18 Apr 2007

Kathmandu, Nepal – Poaching is a major threat to the tiger's

survival, says leading experts attending an international symposium

on the species.

 

WWF and TRAFFIC urged delegates attending the symposium, sponsored by

the Global Tiger Forum, to take a strong position on promoting

improved regional law enforcement to protect the world's wild tigers

and to oppose the re-opening of the tiger trade in China.

 

" A clear consensus emerged at the symposium that poaching of tigers

in the wild must be combated urgently and that it requires immediate,

coordinated efforts both by countries with tiger populations and

countries driving the black market demand for tiger parts, " said Dr

Susan Lieberman, director of WWF's Global Species Programme and chair

of the International Tiger Symposium.

 

" The world's remaining wild tigers can't wait. The need for

protecting them has never been more urgent. "

 

One issue that dominated much of the discussion was whether China

would lift its successful 14-year ban on trade of tiger bone and

allow domestic sales of tiger products. A petition to overturn the

ban is pending before the government by wealthy tiger farm investors,

who now have more than 4,000 semi-tame tigers in captivity and are

hoping to profit from sales of tiger products.

 

" Such a move could be a death sentence for wild tigers, which will be

poached even more relentlessly if there's a legal market for

smugglers to `launder' wild tiger products through, " said Steven

Broad, executive director of TRAFFIC International.

 

" We call on the Global Tiger Forum to send a clear message to China

that the international community finds any reopening of tiger trade

unacceptable. "

 

Other recommendations from the symposium included: investigating ways

to reduce human-tiger conflict across Asia and share lessons about

methods to compensate communities for tiger depredation; convening a

meeting of law enforcement experts to share advice and approaches to

halting illegal tiger trade; and calling for the development of a

global tiger conservation strategy that would follow an approach

successfully used for African lion conservation.

 

For further information:

Jan Vertefeuille, Communications Manager

WWF International

Tel: +977 98510 26209

 

Trishna Gurung, Communications Manager

WWF Nepal

Tel: +977 98510 20164