Introduction

Over the past century, the number of tigers in the wild have declined from over 100,000 to just about 3,890 today. Poaching continues to be their greatest threat and 3 subspecies have gone extinct, with just 6 remaining. Every part of the tiger is exploited in the illegal trade industry, from their skin, claw, meat, bones and organs.

The South China Tiger and the Sumatran Tiger is currently listed as critically endangered while the other 4 subspecies are listed as endangered in the ICUN Red List. Although CITES banned all commercial tiger trade since 1987, there has still been about 50% decrease in their populations since then.

This is likely because CITES is merely provides an international framework for enforcement and ultimately requires the cooperation of governments and organisations to effectively reduce such poaching and trafficking.

In the News: In 2016, authorities seized 70 dead tiger cubs in the freezers of the Tiger Temple, a well-known tourist attraction located in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. These tiger cubs are suspected to be sold as potions across Southeast Asia and China.

 

Traditional Chinese Medicine 

In TCM, the tiger penis is often consumed in belief to improve male virtility, cure impotence and improve one’s sexual performance but these have yet to be proven by any form of scientific research. In Chinese specialty restaurants, the dried penises are commonly brewed in a soup with other herbs and spices and are sold for exorbitant prices, as much as US $400 a bowl. They are especially common in the “Chinatown” of many cities, not only limited to Asia, but in Western Countries like the United States as well.

On the other hand, in TCM, the tiger bones is said to be the most prized of all parts of the tiger. They are grounded into powder and processed to form pills and plasters or to help “treat” rheumatism and arthritis. The bones are also steeped into rice wine to form tiger bone wine that is thought to be able to improve health and cure problems such as headaches, general weakness and back problems by balancing one’s yin and yang.

Other parts of the tiger like its blood and eyeballs is also said to be able to improve the function of the liver and kidneys and is able to cure a wide range of illnesses from toothaches to fevers.

They are believed to have medicinal properties that are able to treat chronic ailments and replenish the body’s essential energy. The tiger penis is also said to be a potent aphrodisiac that is able to treat erectile dysfunction. However, similar to the rhino horn’s case, there is no scientific research to support these beliefs and greater efforts are required to change them. 

 

Sale

Despite the domestic trade of tiger products in China being formally banned in 1993, there are still black markets selling these products and it is often the case that such ingredients are not labelled explicitly. These products are also shipped worldwide through illegal means to markets in Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific and other northern countries.

In late 2009 – early 2010, an ACRES undercover investigation has found that a shockingly large number of tiger parts is sold in jewelry, antique shops in Singapore. They include tiger claws, teeth and skin, forming the biggest seizure of alleged tiger parts in Singapore to date. A few years before that, in collaboration with The New Paper, they also uncovered the sale of tiger bones, paws and penises, were on sale in TCM shops in Singapore’s Chinatown.

 

Global Tiger Recovery Program

The objective of the program is to double the number of tigers by 2022 and is a collective effort by governments of the 13 Tiger Range Countries (TRC) and organisations such as WWF.

Under the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), the program aims to carry out actions that will effectively protect the tigers’ natural habitats and stamp out their illegal trade through trans-boundary cooperation and working with native and local communities.

By successful managing the trade and habitat of the tigers, the program hopes to restore these tigers to their former range and sustainably increase their population in the wild.

Learn more here.