News

Massive tiger bone seizure

8 August 2005 / WWF

The biggest seizure of illegal tiger bone in more than a decade has been made by customs officers in Taiwan, WWF reported today.

The bone is all thought to have come from poached Sumatran tigers – the rarest of the five surviving tiger sub-species – and was destined for the Chinese medicine market. The 140kg of tiger bones, including 24 skulls, represents 5 per cent of the entire known population of Sumatran tigers. The bones were found in a shipment from Jakarta, Indonesia, hidden in a container of deer antlers being exported to Taiwan for use in traditional medicines. Also seized were 400 kg of pangolin scales and five pieces of carved ivory weighing 1kg.

The international trade in tiger, pangolin and elephant parts is banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). All three are protected species in Indonesia, but a report released last year by TRAFFIC International - the global wildlife trade monitoring programme of WWF and IUCN - found that poaching of and trade in Indonesia's Tigers continues unabated. At least 50 Tigers are killed or removed from the wild in Indonesia per year.

Indonesia was once home to three sub-species of Tiger - Javan, Balinese and Sumatran - but now only has between 400 and 500 Tigers left in the wild in Sumatra. Javan and Balinese Tigers are now extinct.

Dr Susan Lieberman, director of the Global Species Programme of WWF said: “This is a catastrophe for the Sumatran tiger, and highlights the devastation that is being done to many species by poaching to supply the insatiable appetite of the traditional medicine market. If we want to ensure the survival of these magnificent creatures then we have to combine habitat and anti-poaching work with vigilant enforcement and controls at the consumer end. WWF congratulates the Taiwanese authorities for this seizure, but there is much more to be done if we want to save the tiger from extinction.”

TRAFFIC's researchers in Sumatra indicates that Tiger parts are sold to Taiwan, Korea, China, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.