Tigers
(Panthera tigris)
© IFAW
Background
At the beginning of the last century, eight sub-
species of wild tigers roamed the Asian continent.
In the past fifty years, three sub-species of tigers,
the Javan, Bali and Caspian, have become extinct.
The remaining five sub-species and their often
fractured populations are facing increasing threats
from loss of habitat and prey base and, in
particular, from poaching for commercial trade in
tiger parts and derivatives.
All tigers and other Asian big cat species are listed
on CITES Appendix I which bans the commercial
international trade in their parts and derivatives.
Thirteen of the 14 tiger range states have some
form of domestic legislation banning tiger hunting in
the wild and trade in their parts.
At CoP12, CITES Parties adopted Resolution Conf.
12.5, Conservation of and trade in tigers and other
Appendix-I Asian big cat species, urging Parties to
improve legislation towards prohibiting international
and internal trade of tiger parts, derivatives and
products, enhance enforcement, and destroy
stockpiles of tiger parts.
Recognising the threat to wild tigers from trade in
tiger parts and products from any source, CITES
CoP14 adopted Decisions 14.65-14.69. Dec. 14.69
addresses the special threat that comes from
commercial tiger breeding facilities by directing that
“Parties with intensive operations breeding tigers
Proposal
CoP15 Doc. 43.2 from Sweden on behalf of
the EU
Proposed revision of resolution Conf. 12.5 on
Conservation of and Trade in Tigers and other
Appendix I, Asian Big Cat Species
IFAW RECOMMENDS: SUPPORT
on a commercial scale shall implement measures
to restrict the captive population to a level
supportive only to conserving wild tigers; tigers
should not be bred for trade in their parts and
derivatives.”
Unfortunately, lack of concrete implementation of
these CITES Resolutions and Decisions combined
with weak enforcement and the lack of reporting on
measures taken to control the trade in tigers and
other Asian big cat species, have hindered
progress in bringing wild tigers back from the brink
of extinction. In fact, the situation has worsened in
recent years: Tigers in the wild have experienced a
dramatic decline. Surveys in India, long thought a
tiger stronghold, indicate that there may be as few
as 1,200 tigers left there. More recently, results
from an annual survey conducted by WCS reveal a
possible 41 percent drop in the Amur tiger
population in the Russia Far East from its average
over the past 12 years. Scientists warn that unless
intensive conservation efforts are implemented
quickly, the wild tiger may not survive through this
century.
Although habitat reduction and prey loss are also
causes of the tigers’ decline, poaching for the
commercial trade is believed to be the primary
threat. Controlling tiger trade through strengthening
the CITES resolution and improving its
implementation is absolutely necessary, and is well
within the remit of the Convention.
IFAW Recommendations
IFAW urges Parties to support Doc. 43.2 with all
the proposed amendments to Resolution
Conference 12.5 on the Conservation of and
trade in tigers and other Appendix I Asian big
cat species.
IFAW further calls on all Parties to adopt an
additional new paragraph “(b)” as drafted
below, and to commit to appropriate reporting
requirements.
More specifically:
IFAW supports measures to improve law
enforcement to prevent poaching and to curtail
trade of tigers and other Appendix I Asian big cat
species. We welcome the additional paragraphs d)
and e) under "Urges.“
IFAW supports the integration of Decision 14.69 by
including language under “Urges“ (underlined):
f) [Urges] those Parties and non-Parties in whose
territory tigers and other Asian big cat species are
bred in captivity to ensure that they are not be bred
for trade in their parts and derivatives and that
adequate management practices and controls are
in place to prevent parts and derivatives from
entering illegal trade from or through such facilities;
and
g) [Urges] those Parties with intensive operations
breeding tigers on a commercial scale shall
implement measures to restrict the captive
population to a level supportive only to conserving
wild tigers.
Taking account of the interpretations in Annex 4,
IFAW believes it is important for this species-
specific resolution to refer to the word “trade” as
meaning both domestic and international trade. At
CoP14, CITES Parties agreed to define the scope
of the trade as both international and internal when
adopting Decision 14.69.
IFAW shares the Secretariat’s concerns (CoP15
Doc. 43.1) that some captive breeding facilities for
tigers in range States (which are also important
© IFAW
consumer States) are operating with the goal of
commercial trade in tiger parts. IFAW’s own
investigation revealed that tiger parts and
derivatives from some of these facilities have
already entered into illegal commercial trade, on
the physical market and via the Internet, violating
both international and national trade bans. With
tigers already in peril, any trade of their parts, even
parts from captive breeding facilities, will have
deadly consequences for wild tigers.
Elimination of new uses and trade
While the use of tiger parts for traditional medicine
is banned and has been reduced in some important
consumer states, new uses have appeared. Tiger
parts and derivatives are now produced and mass-
marketed as tonics and food. Language that
eliminates all trade from any source as well as any
new uses of parts and derivatives from tigers and
other Asian big cat species needs to be included in
the resolution. IFAW thus suggests an additional
paragraph after section a) under RECOMMENDS,
that consumer States of specimens from the tiger
and other Asian big cat species:
b) carry out appropriate awareness and demand-
reduction campaigns to eliminate illegal trade in
and use of tigers and other Asian big cat parts as
tonics and food or for the production of other
merchandise.
Reporting and compliance
IFAW supports the delineation of specific reporting
requirements for the implementation of and
compliance with this resolution. IFAW encourages
Parties and the Secretariat to consider concrete
and effective measures, including sanctions, to
address lack of reporting and non-compliance.