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Exam Number: 109101 21 March 2011

DI882: Trade, Economics, Regulation and the Environment

CoP 14 Proposal Assignment: Lifting the Ban on Farmed Tiger Products

A. Proposal

To add the word “international” to decision 14.69 relevant to Conservation of and trade in tigers and

otherAppendix-I Asian big cat species.

14.69 “Parties with intensive operations breeding tigers on a commercial scale shall implement

measures to restrict the captive population to a level supportive only to conserving wild tigers; tigers

should not be bred for trade in their parts and derivatives.” 1

Revised to:

14.69 “Parties with intensive operations breeding tigers on a commercial scale shall implement measures

to restrict the captive population to a level supportive only to conserving wild tigers; tigers should not be

bred for international trade in their parts and derivatives.”

B. Proponent

People’s Republic of China with the support of Vietnam and Thailand

C. Supporting Statement

1. Taxonomy

1.1 Kingdom: Animalia

1.2 Phylum: Chordata

1.3 Class: Mammalia

1.4 Order: Carnivora

1.5 Family: Felidae

1.6 Genus: Panthera

1.7 Species: tigris

1.8 Subspecies: altaica, tigris, amoyensis, corbetti, jacksoni and sumatrae

1CITES Webpage

http://www.cites.org/eng/dec/valid15/14_66-68-69_15-70.shtml February 21, 2011

http://www.cites.org/eng/dec/valid15/14_66-68-69_15-70.shtml





2 Overview

The purpose of this proposal is to lift the ban on farmed tiger products within China so as to create a

limited national market in a region where tiger products have a high demand for use in Traditional

Chinese Medicine (TCM). This strategy will contribute to tiger conservation worldwide by providingenough tiger products to reduce the pressure on wild tigers from poaching and contributing to both

genetic stock and reintroduction programs through captive breeding. (Abbott and Kooten, 2011;

IWMC, 2007).

Population estimates of tigers in the wild have been dropping steadily since the early 1900’s.

Although all subspecies are Appendix I regulated species since 1975 (when all subspecies were

added except altaica) and 1987 (when the subspecies altaica was added) and were further

protected by the 1993 national ban imposed by the proponent wild populations keep declining. By

relaxing the ban a positive stimulus to tigers in the wild would be given.

3 Species Characteristics

3.1 Distribution

Tigers can be found in the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China,

Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq,

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan,

Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan,

Uzbekistan, and Vietnam3.

The following map shows both the historical and current distribution of the tiger, highlighting the

importance of a shift in conservation priorities for securing a future for wild tigers.

Map courtesy of: http://www.savethetigerfund.org/AM/Images/TigerNews/TCL/Current_Vs_historictigerrange.jpg "Setting Priorities

for the Conservation and Recovery of Wild Tigers - 2005-2015"

3CITES Webpage

http://citeswiki.unep-

wcmc.org/IdentificationManual/tabid/56/ctl/sheet/mid/369/currentTaxaID/15955/currentTaxaType/Species/curr

entKingdom/0/sheetId/730/language/en-US/Default.aspx February 21, 2011

http://www.savethetigerfund.org/AM/Images/TigerNews/TCL/Current_Vs_historictigerrange.jpg



http://citeswiki.unep-wcmc.org/IdentificationManual/tabid/56/ctl/sheet/mid/369/currentTaxaID/15955/currentTaxaType/Species/currentKingdom/0/sheetId/730/language/en-US/Default.aspx










3.2 Populations in the wild and in captivity

Tiger Species Location Estimated Population Estimated Habitat

(km²)

Amur Tiger

Panthera tigris altaica

Russia (Siberia), China 431-529 156,000

Bengal Tiger

Panthera tigris tigris

India, Nepal,

Bangladesh, Bhutan,

Myanmar, China

3,500-4,700 210,000

South China Tiger

Panthera tigris

amoyensis

China

20-30 10,000

Indochinese Tiger

Panthera tigris corbetti

Cambodia, Laos, Burma,

Thailand, Myanmar,

Vietnam, China

750-1300 300,000

Malayan Tiger

Panthera tigris jacksoni

Malaysia (Malayan

Peninsula)

Less than 500

Sumatran TigerPanthera tigris

sumatrae

Indonesia (Sumatra)400-500

(Abbot and Kooten, 2011)

The table above, taken from an article published in 2011, shows high end estimates of wild tiger

populations and their remaining territories. The world’s population of tigers has plummeted from

an estimated 100,000 to at most 5,000-7,000 today (Lee,1996). Between the 12 existing tiger farms

in China there is a cumulative population of about 6,500 individuals (Irvine, 2010). This is higher than

the high end population estimates wild tigers and more than double the low end population

estimates of 3,200 animals in the wild (Kirkpatrick and Emerton, 2010).

3.3 Threats to the tiger in the wild

Among the greatest threats to tigers in the wild are poaching and illegal trades. The use of legal

markets for the supply of tiger parts will reduce the strain on wild populations. If the trend of

decline in tiger population in the wild is to change, the strategies must also change (IWMC, 2007).

Presently conservation strategies have been geared toward curbing demand for tiger products,

eradicating poaching and securing the specie’s natural habitat (Yonzon, 2006). These approaches

have not been effective. To successfully secure a future for this charismatic species we must

consider new approaches, such as supply side conservation.

This shift in approach to conserving the wild tiger must not only include lifting the ban on farmed

tiger products. It must also address other threats that haven’t historically been addressed such as

habitat fragmentation and prey depletion. By using a new unique approach tigers may be placed on

the path to recovery.



4 Supply Side Conservation

4.1 Demand of Tiger Parts and Products

Chinese Traditional Medicine utilizes tiger products in the production of Tiger bone wine and tiger

bone plasters to treat arthritic patients (Nowell, 1999). Nearly all parts of a tiger have commercial

value as the skins, claws, organs and teeth of the tiger can amount to anywhere between $10,000-

$20,000 USD (Abbott and Kooten, 2011, and Yonzon, 2006). One tiger leaves behind 12-15kg of dry

bone which could sell for $500-1000 USD in the CTM market. Live tigers can also elicit a high price

when sold as pets. Penis soup can sell for $320 USD a bowl in “luxury” restaurants in Taiwan

(Lee,1996).

Many opposers of the supply side approach to tiger conservation cite the high costs of raising a tiger

to maturity (about 4,000 USD) as opposed to the low price of poaching one (Abbott and Kooten,

2006). But as highlighted above, the raising of captive bred individuals is highly lucrative and the

price the parts elicit are high enough to make a healthy profit (IWMC, 2007). Another point worth

considering is that the poaching price is not including the rise this “net value” will have as it changes

hands, crosses borders and has the inclusion of bribes and transport costs. As most tigers will be

poached in India to supply the market, the long journey to China will raise the price manifold.

Opposers also often quote that demand for tiger products in TCM is declining and its use in

production of medicine is obsolete as well (Gratwicke et al., 2008). They refute the proposal of

lifting the ban on the basis that if the demand is constantly declining then legalizing the products will

only make this demand rise once more, which in turn will pose a threat to wild tiger populations.

The reality is quite a different on however, since the ban there have been significant tiger bone,

claw and skin seizures. In 2000 there were 300 bone seizures in China, 359 skin seizures in Nepal in

2001, and 515 seizures of tiger bone in Nepal in 2004, the list goes on and on (Yonzon, 2006). These

numbers highlight the existence and true high demand for tiger parts and products. It is important

to note that these seizures of illegal farmed tiger products account for only a fraction of the real

trade in tiger products occurring. Illegal trade is impossible to truly quantify. Ultimately the best

method in combating illegal activities is to pass legislation that legalizes them and regulates them.

Prohibition is the true driving force in illegal tiger product market.

4.2 Legal Trade in Tiger parts

Tiger farming and the introduction of legal trade to meet demand faces many obstacles. Other

points raised by opposers include the theory that by opening a legal avenue for trade in tiger parts

poaching will increase substantially so as to be laundered in the legal trade. This is simply not the

case, as consumer preference studies have demonstrated that wild tiger is still preferred to farmed

tiger (Drury, 2009 and Gratwicke et al., 2008). This is important because if there is a preference for

wild tiger, then this will command a higher price in the market and it would not make sense to

launder a luxury good as a lower value farmed good. As mentioned beforehand the cost of



poaching, transporting and bribing to produce a wild tiger product is much higher than farming one

and this would also discourage poaching by reducing profitability.

Lifting the ban would not be the first time a supply side conservation approach to conservation has

worked in securing a species in the wild. Alpacas and Crocodilians have benefited from regulated

legal trade in their products, with both their wild populations thriving (Thorbjarnarson, 1999 and

IWMC 2007). Tigers should be put on this path as well.

Instead of imposing western values on an eastern culture that places great importance on its

traditions, lifting the ban on farmed tiger products would create a win win situation, both for the

cultural importance of tiger derived medicines in TCM and wild tiger conservation.

5 Legal Instruments for controlling national trade

China has implemented a national system by which wildlife products are stamped and certified as

verified source products and an original identification number is placed in an internet database. This

has been used extensively in the control of musk and ivory within the country (Hang et al., 2007).

It is also of importance to note the sheer magnitude of information on legal trade in tiger parts that

will become available if the market is opened. By quantifying the real demand for tiger parts and

products a clearer picture of what consumer preferences in this product are will be painted. This will

ultimately favor wild tigers, because issues that could potentially harm them will now be able to be

addressed in a timely manner.

6 Conclusions

It is recognized that the legal tiger trade will be an imperfect market, but no market is perfect. By

implementing a system of checks and balances the lifting of the ban of farmed tiger products would

be beneficial to wild tiger populations and help meet goals established to secure their future. China

has shown a willingness to try new approaches to conservation while maintaining their cultural

practices (TCM). Taxation of this trade could serve to raise revenue to fund in situ conservation

efforts (IWMC, 2007). In a decade China could have a captive tiger population of 100,000 tigers, a

number comparable to those found in the wild in the early 1900’s (IWMC, 2007). Legal trade could

serve many purposes but the most important would be securing the tiger’s future.



References

Abbott B. and van Kooten GC. (2011) Can domestication of wildlife lead to conservation? The economics

of tiger farming in China. Ecological Economics 70:721-728

Bulte EH. and Damania R. (2005) An Economic Assessment of Wildlife Farming and Conservation.

Conservation Biology 19(4):1222-1233

Damania R. and Bulte EH. (2006) The economics of wildlife farming and endangered species

conservation. Ecological Economics 62:461-472

Drury R. (2009) Reducing urban demand for wild animals in Vietnam: examining the potential of wildlife

farming as a conservation tool. Conservation Letters 2:263-270

Gratwicke B, Mills J., Dutton A., Gabriel G., Long B., Seidensticker J., Wright B., You W., and Zhang L.

(2008) Attitudes Toward Consumption and Conservation of Tigers in China. PLoS ONE 3(7)1-7

Gratwicke B., Bennett EL., Broad S., Christie S., Dutton A., Gabriel G., Kirkpatrick C., and Nowell K. (2008)The World Can’t Have Wild Tigers and Eat Them, Too. Conservation Biology 22(1)222-223

Hang Z., Li C., Fang H., Meng Z., and Zeng Y.(2007) Captive Bred Tigers and the Fate of Wild Tigers.

Bioscience 57(9)725

Irvine D. (2010) Tiger Farms: A conservation idea red in tooth and claw? CNN World Articles.

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medicine?_s=PM:WORLD Accessed 2/6/2011

IWMC World Conservation Trust (2007) Tiger Conservation: It’s time to think outside the box. IWMC:3-

15 http://www.iwmc.org/PDF/IWMCtiger.pdf

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International Law and Business 16:497-515

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Moyle B. (2010) China’s Captive Tigers: An Application of the Precautionary Principle to Po licy. Workingpaper http://ssrn.com/abstract=1699507

Nowell K. (2009) Tiger Farms and Pharmacies: The Central Importance of China’s Trade Policy for Tiger

Conservation. Tigers of the World 2nd ed. Elsiever 38:453-465

Ru W. and Juan S. (2010) Call to close tiger farms disputed. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-

03/13/content_9584123.htm Accessed 2/6/2011

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-02-11/world/tiger.farms_1_tiger-parts-wild-tigers-traditional-chinese-medicine?_s=PM:WORLD



http://www.iwmc.org/PDF/IWMCtiger.pdf


http://ssrn.com/abstract=1699507



http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-03/13/content_9584123.htm












Thorbjarnarson J. (1999) Crocodile Tears and Skins: International Trade, Economic Constraints, and

Limits to the Sustainable Use of Crocodilians. Conservation Biology 13(4):465-470

Yonzon PS. (2006) The Illicit Trade on Megavertebrates of Asia. Conservation Biology in Asia 6: 1-7

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