Breeding tigers in farms for their parts could kill the species
in the wild “TO SAVE the tiger, you have to sell it.” So claimed
Chinese officials and scientists at the Global Tiger Forum, a
gathering of governments and conservationists in Kathmandu this
week. The Forum studies the latest science and advises on
policy. It will send its recommendations to the next meeting of
signatories to CITES, the convention governing trade in
endangered species, in the Netherlands in June. The principal
market for tiger parts, only available illegally, is China,
where virtually every bit of the tiger has some medicinal or
other use. The 17-strong Chinese delegation to the forum argued
that the health benefits of tiger-bone wine and other
concoctions are clear, and in high demand. They claimed a ban on
the internal trade in tiger parts, which China imposed in 1993,
has cost the country $4 billion, and yet poaching persists. The
answer, they argued, is to flood their market with products from
the 5,000 tigers that live on Ch