Reprinted from a Jan. 6, 2008 column in the Morgantown Dominion Post.
Two weeks ago there were two articles on tigers in this paper. One centered on the escape of a tiger from its enclosure at the San Francisco zoo. The tiger then attacked three young men, killing one, before it was killed. The second story was less the head liner, and came out of Beijing, China. There people broke into a zoo, drugged a tiger, then skinned it and took various body parts. The story went on to explain that the body parts and hide were probably sold on the black market because demand was high. I’d say that if people are willing to break into a zoo to get wildlife body parts, then, indeed, the black market demand must be huge. So, I thought that delving into this topic might be interesting.
Traditional Chinese medicine has always been a part of the oriental culture and has used thousands of plants and animal species for various health uses. This article is not an effort to slam traditional Chinese medicine, however, the facts are that billions of people rely on plant and animal-based medicines. This may not have been a problem hundreds of years ago, but today the medicinal demand is so high that many Asian species are gone or endangered. Let me give some examples, starting with the Siberian tiger.
Tiger bone is used to cure joint pain; the brain is used for acne. Other parts are used to create souvenirs for tourists. This tiger is probably extinct or nearly so in China, so poachers in Russia and other countries sell body parts to China via the black market. In 1993 pressure from other countries forced China to make the use of tiger bone (and rhinoceros horn) for medicinal purposes illegal. The Clinton Administration also imposed sanctions on China for using the above animal parts. A survey of medicinal shops in China in 1996 showed that 43 percent were still selling tiger bone products. In addition, a new industry of tiger farming was started in China, but I could find no data on just how common such farms are. However, a survey of medicine shops in 2006 showed that only 3 percent were still selling tiger bone products.
However, there is more bad news for wild tigers. China had a ban on tiger parts from tiger farms, but in June 2007 they announced a plan whereby that ban would be lifted. Since you can’t tell the difference between tiger bone (and other parts) from wild vs. farmed tigers, if people are allowed to trade farmed tiger parts, then wild tigers will continue to be poached (and tigers in zoos killed). It’s all about demand and money. A Russian tiger sells for $4000-$6000, and abroad they may go for as much as $30000. No wonder that in one region of Russia, over one-third the population was poached in the past two years. If things continue, the Siberian tiger will be extinct in a very short time.
Bear gall bladders and bile are used in medicine for everything from headaches to skin rashes. They sell for huge money in Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan, and Asian wild bears are virtually nonexistent. There has been poaching of our black bears, but federal agents have used sting operations to keep such killing at a minimum.
Pressure is such that all the world bear populations are in trouble except for ours. Our bear numbers are extremely healthy. We have a great system of management. But it isn‘t perfect because a few states and provinces still allow the sale of gall bladders taken from hunter-harvested animals.
Due to demand there are an estimated 8000 bears on bear farms in China, though actual numbers of such farms are hard to come by. Apparently animals are kept in less than ideal pens, with bile removed via tubes in the animal. At this point it is hard to know if the use of this bile, and a synthetic made from cow bile, has reduced the pressure on wild bears. What we do know is that the pressure on wild bear populations is serious.
These are just two examples of the use of animal parts in oriental medicine. Bird nests (used in soup), musk from musk deer, the horn of rhinos, seahorses (90 health and medical products contain seahorses), and many others, all suffer from over use and over harvest. Farming and the use of synthetics may stem the tide, but overall, the use of animal parts has reduced wild populations in the Orient. For some species the real question is whether they will survive.
