Illegal tiger trade 'killing 100 big cats each year' (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Mark Kinver
Science and environment reporter, BBC News

The illegal trade in tiger parts has led to more than 1,000 wild tigers being killed over the past decade, a report suggests.

Traffic International, a wildlife trade monitoring network, found that skins, bones and claws were among the most common items seized by officials.

The trade continues unabated despite efforts to protect the cats, it warns.

Over the past century, tiger numbers have fallen from about 100,000 individuals to just an estimated 3,500.

The study, which used data from 11 of the 13 countries that are home to populations of Panthera tigris, estimated that between 1,069 and 1,220 tigers were killed to supply the illicit demand for tiger parts.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11718648




I've long believed that the products of poaching -- rhino horn, ivory, animal pelts, bones, etc. -- when siezed, should be sold at 1/10th their open market price, together with a certificate of authenticity, to a business licensed to participate in such trade. Every time the market price drops, the official price will drop to undercut the incentive for unlicensed dealers whose black-market goods lack certification. Where the unfettered free market works to achieve widely undesirable ends, governments need to start forging some fetters.

[TheWraith]

1. I believe more countries should follow the lead of the Central African Republic.

Where the game wardens come equipped with AK-47s and rocket propelled grenades, as well as an inclination to shoot first.

[Nihil]

3. Seconded. (N/T)

:grr:

[guardian]

2. Thanks for highlighting this.

We can only hope that Viagra catches on in these countries so they'll stop killing tigers, rhinos, and other creatures for some folk witchbrew that doesn't work.

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