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THAILAND’S TIGER ECONOMY www.eia-international.org environmental investigation agency
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THAILAND’S TIGER - EIA · 2014-09-22 · •Tiger bone pills at $5.20 and $2.04. •Tiger penis pills at $6.40. The above three products were manufactured by Zung Seng Heng factory

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Page 1: THAILAND’S TIGER - EIA · 2014-09-22 · •Tiger bone pills at $5.20 and $2.04. •Tiger penis pills at $6.40. The above three products were manufactured by Zung Seng Heng factory

THAIL AND’S

T IGERECONOMY

www.eia-international.org

environmental investigation agency

Page 2: THAILAND’S TIGER - EIA · 2014-09-22 · •Tiger bone pills at $5.20 and $2.04. •Tiger penis pills at $6.40. The above three products were manufactured by Zung Seng Heng factory

Contents

Introduction 1

Thailand and Tigers 2

The Thai Government’s Failure 3

EIA Investigations 4

Thailand’s Tiger Farms 6

International Trade 9

Tiger Farming – An Urban Myth 11

Conclusions and Recommendations 12

References 13

AcknowledgementsThis report was written by Debbie Banksand Faith Doherty, edited by Dave Currey.Picture research by Paul Redman. Report Design by FullStop, London. (tel: 020 7435 0764)

EIA sincerely thanks the generosity of theRufford Foundation and Top Shop whomade this work possible.

Special thanks to Iain Green and RobinHamilton.

Special thanks also to Brian Emmerson and all at Emmerson Press (tel: 01296 854400)

Front cover photo: © Faith Doherty / EIA

Back cover photo: © Iain Green

Below: There are probably fewer than 5000 wild tigers surviving worldwide

© I

ain

Gre

en

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Introduction

1

IntroductionIn the last ten years there have been thousands of column inches dedicated to the news that thetiger is on the brink of extinction. With a globalpopulation that has crashed by 95% over the last100 years, millions of dollars have been spent onnew and innovative approaches for tacklinghabitat destruction, the decline in preypopulation, and the continuing internationalillegal trade in tiger parts and derivatives.

But the tiger can be saved, if people reallywant it to happen. Across it’s range, there areseveral isolated examples of tiger populationsbouncing back in the face of what were oncethought to be insurmountable odds.

Sadly, one country where this hasn’thappened is Thailand, once the primary range of the Indo-Chinese tiger. Years oframpant illegal logging, widespread poaching of endangered species, poorly implementedconservation strategy and governmentindifference have decimated the tigerpopulation and the forests that it depends on.

Thailand has shown itself to be woefullyinadequate in implementing domestic legislationto stamp out the tiger trade and in enforcinginternational agreements to which it is asignatory. EIA has learned through itsinvestigations that Thailand has also become

a conduit for illegal trade as well as amanufacturer and supplier of tiger products.

A blossoming institutional belief that tigerscan be saved by the breeding of captive tigersoutside a scientific international studbookprogramme is threatening to undermine in situconservation efforts. Instead of securing a long-term future for tigers, these activities shield amore sinister threat : the commercial trading oftigers into extinction.

EIA investigations have revealed a persistentlack of interest and effort on the part of the Thaiauthorities to control a growing domestic andinternational trade that threatens not only theremaining wild tigers in Thailand, but also wildtigers across their range. Despite the widelyavailable tiger products which publish theirfactory address details on the packaging, theauthorities appear to have taken no action anddisplayed no interest in curbing this trade.

The tiger, once a symbol of strength andprogress, has been reduced to a symbol of apathyand disregard for a once rich biodiversity. ButEIA believes that it is not too late for the newPrime Minister to take immediate and decisiveaction to reverse the recent trend and to reinstatethe wild tiger as a symbol of a new Thailand.

Debbie Banks, EIA Senior CampaignerJune 2001

© P

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Ric

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/EIA

The tiger,once asymbol ofstrength andprogress, hasbeen reducedto a symbolof apathy anddisregard for a once richbiodiversity.

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Thailand and Tigers

2

Thailand and TigersThailand signed the UN Convention onInternational Trade in Endangered Species(CITES) in March 19731 and ratified theConvention in April 1983, but it was not untilThailand faced wildlife trade sanctions underCITES in 19912 that domestic legislation wasadopted to implement CITES. The WildAnimals Preservation and Protection Act, B.E.2535 (1992), bans the hunting of wild tigersand trade in parts and products of tigerwhether it is wild or captive bred.

The import and export of live tigers (forzoos, captive breeding programmes andcircuses) can only take place with the relevantcertificates and permits from the Thai RoyalForest Department (RFD) and CITESManagement Authority. A number ofindividuals are still permitted to keep tigers incaptivity but are banned from trading in theanimals or their parts.

The Ministry of Agriculture andCooperatives is charged with enforcing the Actand violations can carry a fine of up to US$888and imprisonment of up to four years. It doesnot however, specifically prevent themanufacture, use, sale, import and export ofproducts labelled as containing tiger.3,4

Historically, Thailand was widely consideredto be the primary range of the Indo-Chinesesub-species of tiger and until 1998 there were anestimated 250-501 wild tigers5. Recentindependent scientific research has verified that

there are far fewer tigers in Thailand thanpreviously thought, perhaps only 150.6

Despite legislation banning the hunting,import, export, and trade in tigers, Thailand is a prominent consumer of tiger parts andderivatives. Trading in tigers fromneighbouring tiger range states as well as itsown populations, Thailand has not onlybecome a conduit for trade, but has aflourishing domestic market greatly enlargedby tourism, and an established manufacturingindustry churning out tiger products for homeand abroad.

The Thai-Burma and Thai-Cambodianborders are renowned hot-spots for illegalwildlife trade and there are numerous reports ofThai buyers bringing illegal tiger and other catproducts into Thailand from Burma7,8 andsmuggling live tigers from Thailand toCambodia.9

Earlier well-publicised surveys in Thailand’scapital, Bangkok, have documented thewidespread availability of tiger-based productsin Chinatown shops and pharmacies.10 There isabundant evidence of a wider internationalillegal trade in tiger parts and derivativesbeyond national and regional borders.

Official CITES and United States recordsimplicate Thailand as a continuing conduit fortrade. CITES data reveals that between 1977and 1997, 58 shipments of trophies, skins,bones, teeth, claws and tiger derivatives wereintercepted while being exported from Thailandto Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the

. . . about 100 captive-bred tigercubs aretradedillegally each year.

Right: Tiger and otherwildlife parts for saleon the Thai-Burmaborder

© D

amie

n L

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The Thai Government’s Failure

3

Philippines. The seizures included 16 skins, 48claws, 20 teeth, 2 skulls and at least 743 tigerbone products11.

Additional information from the US Fishand Wildlife Service shows that exports oftiger bone derivatives continued in 1998 and1999 with further seizures of 195 tiger basedderivatives12. Both sets of data indicate that insome circumstances the derivatives originatedfrom China and in fact, between 1990 and1994 Thailand imported 1650 cartons of tigerbased derivatives from China. Recent data isunavailable since Thailand has failed tosubmit annual reports on trade in fauna for1998 and 199913.

In a recent interview a well-informed sourcerevealed that about 100 captive-bred tiger cubsare traded illegally each year. He describedthem being placed in cages, concealed in fruitcrates and illegally smuggled by boat fromThailand to China. A middleman is used tolocate the tiger cubs for sale and once anagreement is made, the tiger cubs are sent fromMai-Sai on to a boat which then travels toChina along the Mekong River.

The Thai Government’sFailureIn July 1999, EIA met with the former head ofthe Wildlife Conservation Division and CITESManagement Authority, Dr. SchwannTunhikorn, to discuss the illegal sale of tigerparts in Bangkok. Dr. Tunhikorn told EIA thatthere had been recent enforcement activitywhen the Chairman of the IUCN Cat Specialistgroup had visited and found significantquantities of products available for sale inChinatown14.

Dr. Tunhikorn showed EIA some of theproducts seized earlier and stated that theywere fakes but could not offer any evidence toprove this. In recent investigations, EIA hasfound that some of the very same products arestill available in Bangkok and real or fake, theiravailability perpetuates a demand thatstimulates the poaching and trade in wild tigers.

In October 2000, Cambodian wildlifeauthorities seized two tiger cubs and a lion thatwere reported to have been bought from theThai army15.

Details of past investigations have beenwidely publicised through the media and inthe newsletters of specialist organisations ofwhich senior figures in the Royal ForestDepartment are members. Yet the Thaiauthorities have failed to take action againstan ongoing illegal trade.

Despite having been embarrassed before theinternational community over their failure toimplement CITES in 1991, the Thai authoritieshave continued to ignore their obligations toCITES. This is not only reflected by the ongoingtrade, but also by their failure to provide recentannual trade reports to CITES.

. . . the Thaiauthoritieshavecontinued to ignoretheirobligationsto CITES.

Above left: Raw tigerbone, on sale in aBangkok pharmacy.

Left: Products labelledas containing tiger areeasily available inBangkok’s Chinatown.

© E

IA©

EIA

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EIA Investigations

4

EIA InvestigationsRecent EIA investigations reveal that theproblem is much worse than simply sellingChinese-manufactured patent medicines.Factories in Thailand are illegallymanufacturing tiger-based products for

Tung Kiong Seng HuatShop No. 300• Tiger-based compound, locally known as

“yao gao” to mix with liquor at $5.40.• Tiger bone pills at $5.20 and $2.04.• Tiger penis pills at $6.40.The above three products weremanufactured by Zung Seng Heng factory(Thailand), the store owner claimed the rawingredients came from China.

Tiger bone pills at $1.10, Chong SengMedical Factory (China)

Tiger bone pills titled “Pilulae CortieesEcommiae et Ossis Tigers”, Guiyang ChineseMedicine Factory (China).

Shop TwoNo tiger products available

Chin Lee Chiang Pharmacy Charoen Krung Rd, 15/16• Tiger bone pills, $6.10 for 20, according

to the store owner these came fromBeijing via Hong Kong.

• Tiger bone whisky $23.70, made in Chinaby Tong Reng Tang but distributed inThailand by Li Fai Co Ltd.

Shop FourTiger yao gao, $0.44 for three pieces.

Shop Five• Tiger bone pills at $1.10, made in

Thailand by the Ouay Un factory.• Raw tiger bone at $6.60 per gram, makes

tea or alcohol mix, according to the storeowner the bone originates from China.

Shop Six• Tiger bone pills, $0.66, $0.88, $1.11.• Tiger yao gao, $10.00.The store owner claimed that these productsoriginated in China.

a domestic and international market. InDecember 2000 and May 2001, EIA surveyedpharmacies in Bangkok’s Chinatown anddiscovered that some of the products werebeing manufactured in Thailand. EIA identifiedthree Thai factories: Zung Seng Heng16, OuayUn and Heng Tien Huat.

Shop SevenNo tiger bone products available

Soi Chareon Krung,Chinatown• Tiger yao gao at $10.00, made by the

Heng Tien Huat Factory (Thailand). Thestore-owner claimed that people fromChina visit Thailand to buy these productsand bring them back.

• Another brand of tiger yao gao, calledYong Seaw Tung was also available atUS$10. The store-owner claimed that thisproduct is not fake, is secretly made inThailand and exported to China.

Tong Thai Dispensary484 Yowaraj Road, Chinatown• Three products for sale. Tiger yao gao

by Heng Tien Huat Factory, and twodifferent products of yao gao by ZungSeng Heng.The products were selling at$8.00, $9.00, and $18.00 respectively.

Ching-Seng Cheang522-524 Yowaraj Road, Chinatown.• Two products for sale - yao gao

manufactured by Zung Seng Heng for$10.00 and tiger bone pills manufacturedby Ouay Un for $1.10.

Eng Chin Joo Chean Ltd117 Rama 4 Road, Bangkok• One product for sale of tiger pills called

Hu-Gu PandanWan manufactured by Sian Drug Works in China, and selling for $1.75.

Thong Thai DispensaryYaowaraj Road, Chinatown.• One product for sale, yao gao

manufactured by Zung Seng Heng andselling for $8.00

EIA Survey of pharmacies in Bangkok’s Chinatown,December 2000 and May 2001

Factories inThailand areillegallymanufacturingtiger basedproducts

(all prices are in US$ @ $1 = THB 45)

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EIA Investigations

5

Thailand’s Tiger FactoriesEIA has uncovered businesses in Thailanddistributing and manufacturing tiger-basedderivatives for a domestic and internationalmarket.

Ouay Un, 152/12 Pakasem Rd, Bangkok,www.ouayun.com

EIA investigators found Ouay Un’s tiger bonepills for sale at the Sri Racha HealthTraditional Medical Clinic at the world famousSri Racha Tiger Zoo and at some of thepharmacies visited in Bangkok’s Chinatown.

When EIA investigators visited the factoryand enquired about the products available, theywere informed that a range of products aremade in Thailand and exported to Norway andthe Netherlands.

With specific reference to the tiger bonepills, the factory manager claimed that the bonefor the pills was from Thailand and cost over$1000. The product was very diluted and onebottle of pills costs $1.10.17

Zung Seng Heng, 3/286 – 289 SuwintawongRoad, Moo 9, Lampakshi, Nong Chock,Bangkok, 10530.One company of particular concern is ZungSeng Heng based in Phrakanong and NongChok in Bangkok. When an EIA Investigatormet with the Manager and Director Mr.Songpol Bumrungrattakul he said his companybuys in the tiger bone from China andprocesses it for a Thai market. He also impliedthat they export their products to China andthe products are packaged for both the Thaiand Chinese markets18.

Heng Tien Huat, 2/59 Soi Chan Set 1, Rama 11Road, BangkokAccording to the packaging of tiger yao gaofound in Bangkok’s Chinatown, this product ismanufactured in Thailand by Heng Tien Huatand according to the store owner, exported toChina. Similar tiger bone productsmanufactured by Heng Tien Huat were seizedby Canadian authorities in the late 1990s19.

Above right:The Zung Seng Heng company buy in tiger bone fromChina to make a tiger-based compound, “yao gao”, for a domestic and Chinese market.

Right:Heng Tien Huat of Thailand manufacture tiger productsfor domestic and overseas market.

Left:Tiger bone pillsmade in Thailandby Ouay Un werefound for sale inBangkok’sChinatown and onthe premises of theSri Racha Tiger Zooat the Sri RachaHealth TraditionalMedical Clinic. TheOuay Un factorymanager statedthat the bonecomes fromThailand.

© Faith Doherty /EIA

© Faith Doherty /EIA

© Faith Doherty /EIA

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6

Thailand’s Tiger Farms

Right: Tiger cubs atthe Nong Ngu HuaSnake Farm.

© F

aith

Doh

erty

/EIA

Right: At Sri RachaTiger Zoo cubs aretaken from theirmother prematurelyand weaned on sows.

© F

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Doh

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/EIA

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7

Indochinese tigers in captivity across Indochinaand in the US22. Most of the tigers currentlyheld in captivity in Thailand are unsuitable forscientific captive breeding programmes, becausemany of them are Bengal23 or hybrid throughpoor husbandry practices.

These tigers have little conservation valuebeyond their potential for education. To date,there have been no successful reintroductions ofcaptive tigers in to the wild. The efforts ateducation are very poor with Sri Racha TigerZoo providing the worst kind of inaccurateideas and misinformation.

Thailand’s Tiger Farms

Thailand’s Tiger FarmsAccording to official records there areapproximately 300 tigers in captivity inThailand20, but unofficial estimates put thepopulation of captive tigers in Thailand ataround 100021. EIA has asked the RFD aboutthe status of tigers in captivity in Thailand andof the registration system, but has not receiveda response.

When the Indochinese Tiger Masterplan forThailand was written in 1995 by a group ofinternational scientists, there were only 43

Left: Sri Racha TigerZoo circus

© F

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© F

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/EIA

© F

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Below left: Nong Ngu HuaSnake Farm tigershow

Below right:Tourists pose forphotos with a tigercub at Sri RachaTiger Zoo

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Thailand’s Tiger Farms

8

One exhibit provides a photographicopportunity for tourists with tigers and “KenyaBoy”24. A man and two women of Africanorigin dressed in faux animal print outfits sharean enclosure with tigers. For money, the manand women will pose with a tiger. Besides theobvious degradation of both human and tiger,the exhibit reinforces a common mistake thattigers are native to the African continent.

There has been widespread suspicionregarding the purpose and activities of tigerbreeding facilities in Thailand. In 1995, SriRacha Tiger Zoo was reported to be hoping fora change in the law to allow the sale of tigersfor commercial purposes25. At that time, therewere 35 tigers at Sri Racha.

Today, in addition to the 50,000 crocodilesthat are raised each year for commercialpurposes26, there are between 18027 and 40028

tigers held at the public zoo and a secondfacility that is closed to the public. Staff at thezoo claim that six females give birth everymonth and that around 300 cubs are born eachyear.29 If the latter is true, the numbers do notadd up. Where have all Sri Racha’s tigers gone?

In response to international concernsregarding the purposes of Thailand’s captivebreeding operations for tigers, the Thaigovernment issued a statement in 1995 refutingthe charges of tiger farming for trade andreiterating that “it is the policy of the WildlifePreservation and Rescue Committee to suppressthe trade in tiger parts and to investigate anyclaim of tiger parts being used or sold inThailand for any reason.”30

Yet in December 2000 EIA investigatorsfound tiger bone pills manufactured by the OuayUn factory for sale in the Sri Racha HealthTraditional Medical Clinic, on the premises ofSri Racha Tiger Zoo. Furthermore, in a study byTRAFFIC in 2000, a Chinatown store owner inBangkok told investigators that he buys tigerpenis from the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo.31

According to the Thai governmentstatement of 1995, the owner of Sri Racha, MrMaitree Tempsiriphong, has special statusunder a clause in the 1960 Thai Wildlife Law“to keep a large number of tigers withoutoperating as a breeding center he is however,forbidden from trading or selling his animals or any tiger by-product”.

Above: Misleading exhibit at Sri Racha Tiger Zoo

© F

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/EIA

© P

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/EIA

Above: At Sri Racha Tiger Zoo staff claim 300 tigers are born each year, yet thereare only around 200 tigers there. Where have all the tigers gone?

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International Trade

9

International TradeIn all tiger range states the tiger is threatenedby habitat destruction, prey decline andpoaching for illegal trade. While the solutionsto these issues are many and varied and relateto the needs of local communities, one aspect isclear. So long as there is a demand, or perceiveddemand for tigers on the international market,there will always be an incentive for poachersand traders to deal.

Today this market is no longer confined totraditional Chinese medicine, but also a diffuseand widespread market for skins that is notonly depleting tigers but impacting leopardsand other endangered wild cats too.

Under CITES, tigers were listed in Appendix1 in 1975 (except for the Siberian sub-specieswhich was listed in 1987), thereby banning allinternational commercial trade. Since then therehave been a series of resolutions adopted by theConference of the Parties regardingconservation of, and trade in, tigers. Eachresolution has recognised the significant effortsthat have been made by Parties over the yearsto strengthen legislation and enforcement. Theyhave also identified loopholes and made specificrecommendations to Parties to address these.

By prohibiting products that claim tocontain tiger, much of the pressure onenforcement authorities has been lifted in sometiger consuming states. The enforcementauthorities of countries that voluntarily adoptedsuch legislation can now seize such productswithout first having to conduct prohibitivelyexpensive forensic tests.

In 1999 CITES launched a series oftechnical and political missions to tiger rangeand consumer states, led by enforcement andimplementation experts, to review legislationand enforcement activities in relation to CITES.They did not visit Thailand.

At the 11th Conference of the Parties toCITES in April 2000 the Parties approved thecreation of a CITES Tiger Enforcement TaskForce. This is an attempt to bring togetherenforcement personnel from tiger range andconsumer states to gather, exchange and utiliseintelligence more effectively. In a demonstrationof its apathy towards tiger conservation,Thailand failed to send a representative to thefirst meeting that was held in New Delhi, 2nd –6th April 2001.

Above: Tiger bonesfor sale in Vietnam

© E

IA

© EIA

Left: Tiger bone pillsfor sale in a Tokyopharmacy.

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International Trade

10

In 1997, CITES Conference Resolution9.13 (Revised) urged Parties to take thefollowing actions to eliminate trade:

1. All Parties and non-Parties, especially tiger range and consumerStates to adopt comprehensivelegislation and enforcement controlsas a matter of urgency, with the aim of eliminating trade in tiger parts and derivatives, in order todemonstrably reduce the illegal trade in tiger parts and derivatives by the 11th Conference of theParties.

2. All Parties seeking to improve theirlegislation controlling the trade intiger parts and derivatives, or toadopt such legislation, includingpenalties adequate to deter illegaltrade and to consider introducingnational measures to facilitateimplementation of CITES, such as voluntarily prohibiting internal tradein tigers and tiger parts and derivativesand products labeled as containing partsand derivatives of tiger * and otherAppendix 1 felidae species.

3. Those Parties and non-Parties inwhose countries stocks of tiger partsand derivatives exist to consolidateand ensure adequate control of such stocks.

*bolded text added by author

Above: Tiger bonesfor sale in SouthKorea

Right: Tiger boneplaster for sale inNew York’sChinatown

© E

IA

© E

IA©

EIA

© E

IA

Right: Tiger bone inalcohol for sale inThailand

Far right: Tiger boneplaster for sale inAmsterdam

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Tiger Farming – An Urban Myth

11

Tiger Farming – An Urban MythThe concept of tiger farms as a means to alleviatethe pressure on wild tigers is not a new one, but itis one that has consistently been deconstructedand rejected by the international community onthe grounds of economics, enforcement, ethicsand politics.

In 1990 and 1992 China made initial attemptsto seek international approval for trading inproducts from the Breeding Centre of Felid ofHengdaohezi in Heilongjiang, but withdrew anyformal proposals before CITES when they realisedthere was no international support for such amove32. Instead, in 1993 China banned the use,sale, manufacture, import and export of anyproducts containing tiger and any productslabelled as containing tiger, withdrew tiger fromthe official pharmacopeia and initiated research toidentify culturally acceptable alternatives33.

The premise behind the promotion of captivebreeding of tigers for commercial purposes is thatthe parts and products of captive bred tigers cancater for demand from an ever growing consumerbase worldwide. Governments, tiger conservationexperts, enforcement experts and NGOs continueto reject this notion for a number of reasons:

• Any legalisation of trade in tiger parts wouldonly serve to perpetuate a market demand. Itwould also undermine the serious efforts onthe part of many tiger range and consumerstates over the last 10 years to secure afuture for the wild tiger.

• Worldwide demand for tiger parts intraditional Chinese medicine and a boomingdemand for skins is simply too vast to becatered for by farming. Any moves in thisdirection will be overwhelmingly detrimentalto the species in the wild.

• Economically, it will always be cheaper tokill tigers in the wild than raise them onfarms. The average cost of raising one tigerto maturity, in non-professional husbandryconditions is over $2,000, while a bulletcosts less than one dollar – poison even less.

• Hundreds of forest guards in India and othertiger range states have lost their lives in thefrontline battles to protect their naturalheritage. The situation for them wouldworsen if trade in captive bred tiger partswere legalised.

• Current levels of illegal trade indicatewidespread deficiencies in legislation andenforcement. The system would be unable toprevent the laundering of wild tiger partsinto a legitimised trade.

• Legalising trade in captive bred tigers willfail to address the wider tiger conservationissues and threats that affect not only tigers,but other endangered cat species, preyspecies and forests.

Above: Sri Racha Tiger Zoo

© F

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/EIA

Below: The economy of tiger farming means that it willnever relieve the pressure on wild tigers in other rangestates like India.

© F

ateh

pur

Fore

st D

ept.

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Conclusions and Recommendations

12

Conclusions Thai authorities are failing to enforce domesticand CITES-implementing legislation and as aresult, tiger parts and derivatives are widelyavailable in Bangkok and cross the borderswith Cambodia, Burma and China.

There is cause for concern regarding theoperation of businesses claiming to import and export raw tiger parts and derivatives. Inparticular Zung Seng Heng, Heng Tien Huatand Ouay Un, which are distributing tigerderivatives in Thailand.

Inadequate implementation of theregistration system of captive bred tigers inThailand is allegedly leading to the illegalexport of live tigers from breeders in Thailandto Cambodia and China.

RecommendationsEIA calls upon the Government of Thailandand the Prime Minister to urgently carry outthe following:

• Thailand must enforce its domesticlegislation.

• As urged by CITES, Thailand mustimmediately amend existing legislation toinclude the prohibition of the sale ofproducts labelled as containing tiger in orderto avoid the need for prohibitively expensiveforensic tests and to ease enforcement.Tougher penalties must be imposed to ensurethe law is an effective deterrent.

• Thailand must create a National WildlifeCrime Unit dedicated to investigating andcombating illegal trade in tigers, tiger partsand derivatives, including the investigation offactories responsible for manufacturing anddistributing tiger derivatives. The results ofthe enforcement and prosecutions resultingfrom this unit must be made public.

• Thailand must nominate a representative of the enforcement authorities to the CITESTiger Enforcement Task Force and to theInterpol Environmental Crime Sub-Group.

• Thailand must create an independentmonitoring body to register and record thedetails of all captive bred tigers, ensuringtransparency and accountability regardingthe activities of captive breeding operations.

• Thai authorities and the internationalcommunity must improve education andoutreach to ensure that the limitations ofcaptive bred tigers and their false claims ofspecies conservation are better understood.

EIA calls upon the CITES Standing Committee to:

• Immediately dispatch a technical andpolitical mission to Thailand to reviewlegislation and enforcement activities as per the previous series of missions fromwhich Thailand was omitted.

© R

obin

Ham

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References

13

References1. Luxmore, R., 1989, Problems in CITES

Implementation, WWF2. CITES Notification No. 636, April 19913. Mainka, S, 1997, Tiger Progress? The

Response to CITES Resolution Conf. 9.13,TRAFFIC International

4. Anon, 1992, Wild Animal Reservation andProtection Act B.E. 2535

5. Jackson, P. (Editor), 1998, The Status of theTiger in 1998, Cat News No. 28

6. Stewart, S. 24/08/00, Thailands TigersFading Fast, AFP

7. Bradley Martin, E. & Vigne, L., 1997,Tigers in Myanmar Threatened byPoachers, Cat News Vol. 26

8. Bradley Martin, E., 2000, Wild CatProducts on Sale in Tachilek and Mywaddy,in 1998, Cat News No. 33

9. AFP, 20/10/00, Four Tiger Cubs Found onSale in Cambodian Capitol

10. Nowell, K. 2000, Far From A Cure : The Tiger Trade Revisited, TRAFFIC

11. World Conservation Monitoring Centre,2000 and 2001

12. US Fish and Wildlife Service, 199913. 45th Standing Committee Document 13.114. Dr. Schwann, July 1999, pers comm. to EIA

Investigator15. AFP, 20/10/00, Four Tiger Cubs Found on

Sale in Cambodian Capitol16. Zung Seng Heng also known as Sun Seng

Heng and Soon Seng Heng.

17. Doherty, F., December 2000, EIA InternalInvestigation Report

18. Bumrungrattakul, S., February 2001, perscomm. to EIA Investigator

19. Nowell, K., 2000 Far From A Cure : The Tiger Trade Revisited, TRAFFIC

20. Mainka, S., 1997, Tiger Progress? TheResponse to CITES Resolution Conf. 9.13,TRAFFIC International

21. Confidential Source, February 2001, perscomm. to EIA Investigator

22. Tilson, R. et al., 1995, Indochinese TigerMasterplan for Thailand.

23. Staff at Sri Racha Tiger Zoo, July 1999, per comm. to EIA Investigator

24. Noticeboard at Sri Racha Tiger Zoo, July 1999

25. The Des Moines Register, 01/01/95.26. Deutsche Presse-agentur, 09/03/01, Thai

Crocodiles Make a Splash in Europe27. Metro, 28/07/9928. Staff at Sri Racha Tiger Zoo, April 2000,

pers comm. to EIA Investigator 29. Staff at Sri Racha Tiger Zoo, June 1999,

pers comm. to EIA Investigator 30. Royal Forest Department, Government

of Thailand, 1995, Cat News No.2331. Nowell, K., 2000, Far From a Cure :

The Tiger Trade Revisited, TRAFFIC32. Nowell, K., 2000, Far From a Cure :

The Tiger Trade Revisited, TRAFFIC33. Jackson, P. (Editor), 1993, Cat News No. 19

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