The Bengal Tiger that calls China and parts of Asia home is being threatened.  Even though action is taking place with conservation and protection agencies, the tiger is still threatened by the black market, know as ‘The Tiger Trade.” 

 

Poachers are hunting them for hides and parts such as teeth, claws and bones.  They passed a law in China preventing the sale of products from their captive tigers in 1993 and outlawed the trade of domestic tiger products.  Letters of praise for tiger conservation should go to China for its enforcement and public awareness campaigns.  They have discontinued the market that use to see domestic tiger products by the tens of millions and that is a great start to tiger conservation in the wild.  The facing problem now is domestic tiger farms in China that want to return to selling tiger parts in the markets. Currently, there are more than 5,000 captive tigers.

 

This month CITES [Convention on International Trade in endangered Species] rejected raising captive tigers for trade; therefore making it more difficult for the black market.

 

Attention is needed to maintain the ban on captive tiger farms in China which will help control the black market that is threatened the wild tigers in Asia. Contact Jia Zhibang, China’s Administrator of State Forestry and let him know that the ban is making a big difference and it is the hope of youth around the world that this species remains present and protected on Earth for all future generations.  The tiger may have already become extinct if it wasn’t for their ban and enforcement.

Fact:  The Tiger populations have decreased 95% in the past 100 years.