Stop the Illegal Wildlife Trade: Conservationists call for new laws to end UK’s ‘unlikely role’ in sale of tiger parts
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Your support makes all the difference.Conservationists are calling on the UK government to crackdown on the illegal sale of live tigers and tiger body parts, with numerous cases across the EU, and in Britain, highlighting the regularity with which endangered species are being sold for commercial gain.
Weak legislation, along with limited scrutiny on private captive tiger facilities across the EU and UK are currently allowing “significant opportunity” for tiger parts, such as skin and bones to enter illegal trade, says a new report by WWF and Traffic - a wildlife NGO which undertakes research into the wildlife trade.
The report found the EU and the UK continue to trade in live tigers and tiger parts and products with countries where tiger farms are known to feed the illegal tiger trade, such as China, Thailand, and Vietnam.
There is also considerable legal movement of tigers, which WWF said was taking place despite the restrictions set out in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which sets out rules which state that tigers should not be bred for trade in their parts and products.
Between 2013-17, a total of 103 live tigers were directly exported from the EU and the UK and 84 live tigers were re-exported, all with legally obtained, government-issued permits.
Of these, a total of 43 live tigers were exported or re-exported from the EU and the UK for commercial purposes (as opposed to non-commercial purposes, such as for research or zoos).
But the EU and the UK have also been implicated in the illegal trade of tigers, with 95 reported seizures involving various tiger parts and products, as well as live tigers, in the same time period.
Paul De Ornellas, chief wildlife adviser at WWF-UK said: “It may come as a surprise to people that the illegal wildlife trade is also active closer to home. In the UK body parts of endangered species, including tigers, are being sold for commercial gain, with disregard for international laws.
“The UK government must act to shut down the market in live tigers, their parts and products and ban commercial trade. In the short term, we need stricter enforcement of existing legislation and the deterrent of lengthy prison sentences for convicted criminals.”
Since the beginning of the 20th century, 95 per cent of the world’s wild tiger population has been lost.
Across the world there are more tigers in captivity than there are in the wild, with at least 850 captive tigers in the EU
Louisa Musing, programme officer at Traffic and author of the report said: “It’s impossible to know how many tigers there currently are in the EU and the UK.
“The management and enforcement of rules around the keeping of captive tigers are usually under the purview of regional and local authorities. There are also limited measures and reporting requirements in place to assess accurately and regularly the total numbers at a national level.”
WWF highlighted that last month, a taxidermist from Lancashire was jailed for a second time for illegally trading in endangered species, including tiger parts.
During the investigation, police uncovered taxidermic tiger cubs at his home. In court, he admitted to plans to sell ten tiger skulls to a client in the Netherlands, highlighting the ease of transactions across Europe, and beyond.
Heather Sohl, Tiger Trade Leader at WWF’s Tigers Alive Initiative said: “The trade of captive tiger products not only complicates enforcement efforts, it also legitimises the use of tiger products and can stimulate market demand.
“European countries have been rightly vocal on the need to close tiger farms in Asia, but they too are an unlikely player in the global trade in tigers. Securing the future of wild tigers means addressing the issue at home, which is why the EU and the UK must urgently start with a ban on the commercial tiger trade.”
The report’s recommendations include:
- Banning the commercial trade of captive tigers (and their parts and products), both within and outside of the EU and the UK
- A ban on keeping tigers in circuses and private facilities, unless significantly improved controls over the keeping of all tigers in captive facilities is sufficient to ensure legality
- The creation of an EU-level central registry and collect DNA samples from all tigers in captive facilities
- Conducting regular inspections of all private facilities, random and targeted investigations, and strengthening regulations for the disposal of dead tigers.
WWF said previous work has proven that ambitious conservation efforts can halt and reverse wildlife loss. This has happened in Nepal, where wild tiger numbers increased by 64 per cent between 2009 and 2014.
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