Sumatran tiger trade flourishing as species dwindles

Demand for tiger skins, as well as body parts, is on the rise in Southeast Asia

From staff reports

March 31, 2000
Web posted at: 4:40 a.m. EST (0940 GMT)

LONDON -- At least 66 Sumatran tigers in Indonesia have been killed in the last two years, which accounts for an alarming 20 percent of the species' wild population, environmentalists said Thursday.

Heightened demand across Southeast Asia for tiger parts has threatened the Sumatran and other tigers, whose skins, bones and claws are used in folk remedies and novelty displays.

"Anything that's sold openly, in the cases that we found in certain countries in Asia, is bad news for the tiger because there are so few of them," said Stuart Chapman of World Wildlife Fund.

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"They are one of the world's most endangered species. And this open trade of skins, novelties or charms is just another nail in the coffin for the species in the wild."

In years past, much of the tiger slaughter was destined for the Chinese medicine market. Now they are becoming ornaments in living rooms.

Fewer than 7,500 tigers remain in the wild due to poaching and habitat loss

"What we have seen now is the expansion of another area of the market that we had thought was confined to the history books which is the skin trade. And now for an adult male tiger, all his components parts, in the black market, the retail value is around $70,000," Chapman said.

The tiger trade is flourishing in countries like Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Local laws have been established to protect the animals but are not effectively enforced, the WWF said.

Over the past 100 years, the tiger numbers have dwindled. At the start of the 20th century more than 100,000 wild tigers roamed the Earth. Now with poaching decimating their numbers and extensive logging destroying their habitat, fewer than 7,500 remain. Environmentalists fear that by the end of this century, no tigers will live in the wild.

In April the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species will meet to discuss trade issues. The CITES meeting will be attended by 150 countries, and the trade in tigers will be high on the agenda.

London Bureau Chief Tom Mintier contributed to this report.

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