Compiled by Thuy Hang
A year-long investigation into the tiger trade in Vietnam showed a growth in demand for the animal’s bones, particularly among the wealthy, Nguyen Thi Van Anh, the NGO’s Wildlife Trade Program Coordinator, told a press conference in Hanoi Monday.
Since 2006 its Wildlife Crime Unit has documented 104 crimes involving tigers, including 16 cases in which body parts and bones were seized and one involving live animals.
In Vietnam, tiger bones are used to produce “glue,” a traditional medicine believed to strengthen bones, increase vitality, and treat a range of other ailments.
“Our demand for tiger bone medicine is contributing to the loss of tigers, not just here our own country but also across the species’ native range,” Van Anh said.
The investigation revealed links between some tiger farms in Vietnam and illegal trade and provided significant insight into the mechanics of the trade, including the smuggling of tigers across borders and potential criminal networks operating in Vietnam that may be responsible for much of the trade, she said.
She quoted a glue maker as saying it is easy to buy a dead tiger in Vietnam. “Just a few phone calls and VND350 million (US$18,700) and you can buy a tiger weighing more than 100 kilograms,” she said.
According to a recent report by the World Wildlife Fund, scientists estimate that there are only around 30 Indochinese tigers left in the wild in Vietnam.
Poaching, shrinking habitats, and disappearance of prey species are the major reasons for their decline.
Since 2005 there have been 16 documented seizures of tigers involving 29 animals, according to the report.
Most appeared to have originated abroad from places like tiger farms in Laos, Anh said, with none of the tigers caught in the wild in Vietnam.
The investigation, carried out in cooperation with investigators from several government agencies, profiled seven private farms breeding 84 tigers, four in the south, one in the central region, and two in the north.
If state zoos and rescue centers are included, the number of captive animals totals 101, including five Siberian and Bengal tigers.
Three of the farms are suspected of being involved in illegal tiger trade, the report said.
EVN said the government needs to strengthen monitoring of such farms and immediately close those engaged in illegal activities.
It called on Vietnamese law enforcement agencies to work with their counterparts in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and other countries with clear links to the trade to identify and prosecute the kingpins.
In related news, police in the central Quang Tri Province near Laos last Wednesday seized the carcasses of a 96-kilogram tiger and two panthers and dried bones from a truck.
The driver claimed to be hired by a man from Laos to deliver the cargo to a person in Quang Binh Province.
The endangered Indochinese or Corbett's tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) is a subspecies found in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam and formerly in China.
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