DSWF News - India: Tigers under renewed threat as two new illegal trade routes to China are discovered

Even as the preliminary tiger census indicates that tiger population in India has declined dramatically, wildlife authorities continue to grapple with concerns about new trade routes for smuggling tiger skins and parts to China. Encouraged by growing demand and the Chinese government’s inability to stem this demand, smugglers are abandoning the established route through India-Nepal-Tibet-China and are plying new passages forged through Ladakh and Mayanmar.

The extent of the problem can be gauged by the fact that in the past twenty months, over twenty tiger skins and parts have been recovered; the number of leopard skins seized is more than 100. Experts however say this does not necessarily mean the animals were actually poached in this period itself, since the smugglers usually contract out the killings to smalltime poachers. “The change in routes is of major concern because now the authorities have to guard three routes instead of one. Though the quantity of seizures is still small it is nonetheless a cause of concern,” said Ashok Kumar of the Wildlife Trust of India.

Experts also believe that continued demand for animal parts and skins from China and its government’s lack of initiative to prevent shops from selling animal skins and parts is what is driving the trade. “The demand for animal skins and parts continues to rise in China and the country is a major market for animal skins and parts. Since there has been no crackdown on the markets and buyers, smugglers find it easy to sell their products there,” said Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society of India