[ACRES Singapore] Tiger parts sold openly as jewellery and other related tiger media articles

[Guest guest]

Tiger parts sold openly as jewellery

 

Some unaware of ban and penalties; AVA seizes 320 items from 30 shops

 

Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 20 Mar 10;

 

 

JEWELLERS and antique dealers here are openly selling jewellery and

amulets made from tiger claws, skin and teeth, an animal welfare group

said yesterday.

 

 

The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), which

investigated 134 jewellery or antique shops between December and last

month, found 59 selling body parts of the highly endangered big cat.

 

 

And of the 59, only seven knew of the ban on trade in tiger ornaments;

they produced the objects from under the counter, or from a safe, in

front of undercover Acres investigators.

 

 

One shopkeeper advised: 'When you take it out of Singapore, just say it

is a talisman. Don't say it is a tiger part.'

 

 

Another admitted to having 'just stocked up' for the Chinese New Year

because of hotter demand for the items this Tiger year.

 

 

These retailers either do not know or are ignoring the heavy penalties

that come with selling, advertising or buying the parts of such an

endangered animal.

 

 

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) subsequently checked 161

retail outlets, including Acres' 134, and seized 320 items from 30

shops.

 

 

It was the biggest seizure of alleged tiger parts here to date, in terms

of quantity netted.

 

 

The AVA is now examining the items for authenticity.

 

 

Selling tiger parts is banned. All six tiger species are protected under

Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).

 

 

Singapore ratified the Cites convention in 1987.

 

 

Under the Endangered Species (Import & Export) Act, importing,

exporting, re-exporting or possessing any Cites species without a permit

can land one a fine of up to $50,000 per species, with a cap of

$500,000, and/or two years in jail.

 

 

And here is the rub: Even if the parts are fakes, the same penalties

apply.

 

 

This is because trading even in fakes drives up the demand for tiger

parts, said Acres executive director Louis Ng.

 

 

In Asia and some parts of the world, amulets or ornaments made of tiger

claws, teeth and skin are carried or worn for protection. Tiger skin,

for instance, may be inscribed with prayers and rolled up in glass

capsules. Some people believe that wearing such 'lucky charms' gives

them power and authority.

 

 

The demand for tiger parts for ornaments and traditional medicine,

coupled with tigers' loss of habitat, have caused wild tiger populations

to plummet worldwide.

 

 

By some estimates, only 3,400 to 5,140 tigers were left in the wild in

2008, down from 5,000 to 7,000 in 1999.

 

 

Animal conservationists deem this critical, and yet, the continuing

demand for tiger parts is fuelling its supply.

 

 

Shopkeepers told Acres that they sourced the tiger parts mainly from

Thailand, India and China.

 

 

The prices for these charms ranged from $3 for a tiger tooth, to $350

for a piece of skin, to $4,800 for a tiger claw set in gold.

 

 

Given the rising demand and shrinking supply, these prices can only go

up.

 

 

Acres' investigation targeted clusters of jewellery shops and antique

dealers in Little India, Chinatown, Geylang and Bugis.

 

 

The actual size of the market for tiger parts is unknown, since their

sale is not limited to jewellery and antique shops, said Mr Ng.

 

 

AVA spokesman Goh Shih Yong said the agency has an ongoing programme to

check shops for the sale of illegal Cites species and to educate traders

and members of the public.

 

 

He said: 'We must acknowledge Acres for being our eyes and ears on the

ground.'

 

 

The number of people nabbed for selling alleged tiger parts has been on

the rise. There was one case in 2007 and another in 2008, but four last

year.

 

 

All turned out to be fakes made of materials like horns or hooves and

the sellers were fined between $100 and $500.

 

 

Those with information about shops selling tiger parts and other

endangered species may call the AVA hotline on 6227-0670 or Acres'

hotline, 9783-7782.

 

 

 

 

 

Are tiger parts being sold openly here?

 

AVA acts on animal protection group's findings

 

Neo Chai Chin, Today Online, 20 Mar 10;

 

 

SINGAPORE - Want to buy a pendant with a tiger's claw?

 

 

Apparently, it is not that difficult to get your hands on one here -

either real or fake - despite a commercial trade ban since 1987.

 

 

The illegal sale of alleged tiger parts like claws, teeth and skin for

aesthetic purposes appears fairly widespread here, probes by a wildlife

protection group have revealed.

 

 

Of the 134 jewellery and antique shops surveyed by the Animal Concerns

Research and Education Society (Acres) between December last year and

February this year, 59 offered alleged tiger parts for sale.

 

 

Of these, 52 openly displayed the tiger parts, and 49 claimed their

goods were the real thing. Shopkeepers claimed the goods originated from

places like Thailand, Sri Lanka, China and Myanmar.

 

 

Tiger claws and teeth are set in gold pendants, and pieces of skin are

used as amulets in the belief that they could ward off evil.

 

 

Releasing these findings on Friday, Acres' wildlife crime unit director

Anbarasi Boopal said: " It was shocking for us to see so many of these

products on sale. "

 

 

The Singapore Jewellers Association lists over 300 members and there are

hundreds of antique shops in Singapore.

 

 

The shops Acres surveyed are clustered in Ang Mo Kio, Bugis, Chinatown,

Geylang, Lavender and Little India.

 

 

The group had to trawl the shops opportunistically - checking out all

antique or jewellery outlets along Serangoon Road, for instance - as

there was no way of determining how many shops sold tiger parts, said

Acres executive director Louis Ng.

 

 

The Agri-food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) has since

acted on Acres' findings and confiscated some goods from the shops. It

has also done checks on 27 other shops not covered by Acres.

 

 

A total of 320 pieces of alleged tiger parts from 30 shops have been

seized, said AVA spokesman Goh Shih Yong.

 

 

While it is now determining if the parts are authentic, some appear to

be carved from horns or hoofs of domestic animals like cattle and goats,

Mr Goh said. Meanwhile, it has fined 26 of the shops sums of between

$500 to $3,000.

 

 

Since 1987, Singapore has been a party to the Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

(Cites), which aims to protect endangered wildlife species.

 

 

The commercial trade of all six tiger species is banned.

 

 

Anyone who sells or displays to the public alleged tiger parts and

products can, for each species, be fined up to $10,000, jailed up to a

year, or both.

 

 

" Whether real or fake, it's driving up demand for tiger parts, " said Mr

Ng.

 

 

Fewer than 3,200 tigers remain in the wild, down from an estimated

100,000 a century ago, and that number is still declining.

 

 

To increase chances of nabbing those who bring tiger parts into

Singapore, Mr Ng suggested having wildlife detector dogs at checkpoints.

 

 

Those with information on illegal wildlife trade may call AVA on

6227-0670, or Acres on 9783-7782.

 

 

 

 

 

Smuggled tiger parts sold as jewellery in Singapore

 

Wang Eng Eng, Channel NewsAsia, 19 Mar 10;

 

 

SINGAPORE - Tiger parts that have been smuggled into Singapore are being

openly sold as jewellery and amulets in the retail capital of Southeast

Asia, an animal welfare group said Friday.

 

 

The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) said it

conducted an investigation of more than 130 jewellery and antique shops

and found just under half offered products made from tiger parts like

claws, teeth and fur.

 

 

Of the 59 shops selling such items, 52 were openly displaying the items

for sale, the group said at a news conference.

 

 

The shops investigated were located in various places, such as

Chinatown, Little India and Bugis.

 

 

Shopkeepers offered ACRES activists posing as buyers hundreds of items

purportedly from tigers but the group said it could not verify whether

all of them were authentic.

 

 

" Whether it's real or it's fake, it's actually driving up the demand for

tiger parts in this region, " said Louis Ng, the executive director of

ACRES.

 

 

The products included claws set in gold or silver and worn as jewellery,

amulets made of teeth with a piece of prayer paper rolled into them, and

cuts of skin said to have been blessed for protection or strength.

 

 

A claw set in gold costs between S$20 and S$5,000.

 

 

The sale of tiger parts is illegal under the Convention on International

Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), of which

Singapore is a signatory.

 

 

Fewer than 3,200 tigers remain in the wild, down from an estimated

100,000 a century ago, and that number is still declining, ACRES said in

a statement.

 

 

Butchered for traditional medicine, deprived of their habitat and killed

for encroaching on villages, the onslaught has already seen three

sub-species wiped out and the South China tiger has not been sighted for

decades.

 

 

Video evidence from the investigation, which was conducted from December

2009 to February, showed one shopkeeper offering a piece of " blessed "

tiger skin that he said came from Songkhla in Thailand.

 

 

Another shopkeeper was caught on camera offering a necklace made from a

tooth that he said came from Thailand, while a third said he had to

stock up on tiger parts due to the pick-up in demand during the Lunar

New Year.

 

 

Shopkeepers named Thailand, China and India as their main sources.

 

 

Mr Ng said Singapore played a key role in the illegal trade. " It's

critical especially for Singapore because all our neighbouring countries

have tiger populations. We don't want to be driving up the demand for

these products at this time when they are so critically endangered, " he

added.

 

 

Singapore is the shopping capital of Southeast Asia and welcomed 9.7

million tourists in 2009.

 

 

Asked for its comments, Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority

(AVA) said it carried out its own checks on 161 shops this year,

including the 134 ACRES visited. Its investigations found some of the

tiger parts to be fake.

 

 

However, 26 shops did violate the Endangered Species Act and were fined

between S$500 and S$3,000. Under the Act, those caught selling tiger

parts can be fined up to S$10,000 and/or jailed for up to one year, even

if the parts are fake.

 

 

ACRES is calling for stiffer sentences. Mr Ng said: " It's time we hand

out deterrent sentences, whether the product is real or fake. Under our

law, it's illegal to advertise for the product. Even if it's fake, they

are driving up the demand for these products. "

 

 

ACRES had earlier uncovered the use of illegal tiger parts in

Traditional (TCM).

 

 

 

Singapore jewellers selling tiger parts - report

 

Reuters Alertnet, 19 Mar 10;

 

 

SINGAPORE, March 19 (Reuters) - Some jewellery shops in Singapore are

illegally selling tiger parts, helping fuel the disappearance of the big

cat from Asia, a local animal protection group said on Friday. A

three-month investigation by Animal Concerns Research and Education

Society (ACRES) found that 59 out of 134 jewellery and antique shops it

visited in the Southeast Asian city-state were allegedly selling tiger

parts, including claws, teeth and pieces of skin.

 

 

All commercial tiger trade has been banned by the international CITES

convention that Singapore has signed, and under domestic law the sale of

tiger specimens is prohibited, even if the products turn out not to be

real, ACRES said. Shopkeepers told ACRES that demand had been higher

over Lunar New Year -- the start of the Year of the Tiger -- and more

orders could be placed for parts that could take from a week to three

months to be delivered.

 

 

The parts came from Southeast Asia, China and South Asia, they said.

 

 

Tiger parts are used to make jewellery and Chinese medicine.

 

 

Tigers in the Greater Mekong region face extinction, conservationists

say. Global tiger populations are at an all-time low of 3,200, down from

about 100,000 a century ago, as forest habitats disappear and the

animals are killed for their body parts, used in traditional Chinese

medicine.

 

 

Asian countries are a hotspot for the illegal wildlife trade, which the

international police organisation Interpol estimates may be worth more

than $20 billion a year.

 

 

" As long as there is demand, there will be supply, " said Singapore

member of parliament Lim Wee Kiak. " Legislation alone is insufficient to

bring a complete halt to the illegal trading. " (Reporting by Neil

Chatterjee; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

 

 

 

Smuggled tiger parts sold as jewellery in Singapore

 

Idayu Suparto, News, 19 Mar 10;

 

 

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Tiger parts that have been smuggled into Singapore are

being openly sold as jewellery and amulets in the retail capital of

Southeast Asia, an animal welfare group said Friday.

 

The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) said it

conducted an investigation of more than 130 jewellery and antique shops

and found just under half offered products made from tiger parts like

claws, teeth and fur.

 

 

Of the 59 shops selling such items, 52 were openly displaying the items

for sale, the group said at a news conference.

 

 

Shopkeepers offered ACRES activists posing as buyers hundreds of items

purportedly from tigers but the group said it could not verify whether

all of them were authentic.

 

 

" Whether it's real or it's fake, it's actually driving up the demand for

tiger parts in this region, " said Louis Ng, the executive director of

ACRES.

 

 

The products included claws set in gold or silver and worn as jewellery,

amulets made of teeth with a piece of prayer paper rolled into them, and

cuts of skin said to have been blessed for protection or strength.

 

 

Fewer than 3,200 tigers remain in the wild, down from an estimated

100,000 a century ago, and that number is still declining, ACRES said in

a statement.

 

 

Butchered for traditional medicine, deprived of their habitat and killed

for encroaching on villages, the onslaught has already seen three

sub-species wiped out and the South China tiger has not been sighted for

decades.

 

 

Video evidence from the investigation, which was conducted from December

2009 to February, showed one shopkeeper offering a piece of " blessed "

tiger skin that he said came from Songkhla in Thailand.

 

 

Another shopkeeper was caught on camera offering a necklace made from a

tooth that he said came from Thailand, while a third said he had to

stock up on tiger parts due to the pick-up in demand during the lunar

new year.

 

 

Shopkeepers named Thailand, China and India as their main sources.

 

 

Ng said Singapore played a key role in the illegal trade.

 

 

" It's critical especially for Singapore because all our neighbouring

countries have tiger populations. We don't want to be driving up the

demand for these products at this time when they are so critically

endangered, " he added.

 

 

Singapore is the shopping capital of Southeast Asia and welcomed 9.7

million tourists in 2009.