Washington, D.C. — The Born Free Foundation and 13 other leading non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have called for President Obama to raise the critical issue of the tiger trade with Chinese president Xi Jinping when he visits the U.S. this week. President Obama and President Jinping are due to meet for a private dinner tonight. Ahead of that meeting, the NGOs have written a joint letter to President Obama requesting the U.S. impress upon China the vital need to take immediate action to protect the fewer than 3,200 wild tigers remaining across Asia. [teaserbreak]
The letter states: “One of the most critical threats to the survival of wild tigers is trade in their meat, skin, and bones to satisfy demand driven by wealth, rather than health—for high-status food, drink, home décor, and even investment assets. This demand is fueled by a marked increase in tiger farms in China, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, where tigers are intensively bred for trade in their parts and products. China alone claims to house more than 5,000 tigers on farms.”
According to Adam M. Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA and the Born Free Foundation, “The continued fostering of a captive industry to supply a market for derived products only puts more strain on the ability of wild tigers to survive the 21st century. This very market often perceives the wild counterpart as more powerful, virile, or otherwise more desirable, so that wild tigers throughout their range continue to feel the heat, and suffer sustained and potentially irreversible poaching.”
Not only are wild tigers beset by habitat loss and degradation, increasing conflict with people due to expanding human populations in their range countries, and a myriad of other threats, but the increasing availability of commercially produced tiger parts and products presents yet another obstacle to tiger conservation. The hard graft being done by governments, conservation organizations, and private individuals to save tigers and reverse their decline is being directly and fundamentally undermined by this sordid trade.
As the letter highlights, China is the main producer of captive bred tigers, their parts, and their products, as well as their main consumer. Yet, counter to its commitments under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, China’s government has supported the expansion of tiger farms, allowed a legal trade in skins from farmed tigers, and approved tiger farm wineries that make tiger bone wine.
The letter’s signatories call on the United States to:
1) Urge China to destroy all stockpiles of tiger parts and products
2) Review the current certification of China under the Pelly Amendment to the Fisherman’s Act and urge China to phase out tiger farms
3) Encourage Congress to pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act so that the keeping and breeding of the more than 5,000 captive tigers in the U.S. can be phased down
4) Urge China and Laos to address the trafficking and sale of tiger parts and products, ivory, rhino horn, and other endangered species
5) Encourage adoption of legislation that increases the capacity of the U.S. to assist in the international effort to combat illegal wildlife trade
Born Free has long campaigned against and sought to raise awareness of the illegal trade in tiger parts. Tigers are often kept in appalling conditions in tiger farms and other captive facilities across Asia, representing not just a critical conservation issue but also a worsening animal welfare crisis.
The Born Free Foundation is a dynamic international wildlife charity, devoted to compassionate conservation and animal welfare. Born Free takes action worldwide to protect threatened species and stop individual animal suffering. Born Free believes wildlife belongs in the wild and works to phase out zoos. The Foundation rescues animals from lives of misery in tiny cages and give them lifetime care. Born Free protects lions, elephants, tigers, gorillas, wolves, polar bears, dolphins, marine turtles, and many more species in their natural habitats, working with local communities to help people and wildlife live together without conflict. The Foundation’s high-profile campaigns change public attitudes, persuade decision-makers, and get results. Every year, Born Free helps hundreds of thousands of animals worldwide. More at www.bornfree.org.uk.
Born Free USA is a global leader in animal welfare and wildlife conservation. Through litigation, legislation, and public education, Born Free USA leads vital campaigns against animals in entertainment, exotic “pets,” trapping and fur, and the destructive international wildlife trade. Born Free USA brings to North America the message of “compassionate conservation”—the vision of the United Kingdom-based Born Free Foundation, established in 1984 by Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, stars of the iconic film Born Free, along with their son, Will Travers. Born Free’s mission is to end suffering of wild animals in captivity, conserve threatened and endangered species, and encourage compassionate conservation globally. More at www.bornfreeusa.org; www.twitter.com/bornfreeusa; and www.facebook.com/bornfreeusa.
Media contact: Rodi Rosensweig, TheRodiCompany@gmail.com, 203/270-8929