By Zuzana Kukol, Winter 2006

The world population of wild tigers plummeted in the last 100 years from 100,000 to around 5,000 today. Their main threat is habitat destruction and poaching for body parts used to treat various ailments in Traditional Chinese Medicine, TCM.

No amount of laws and money poured into conservation is helping to slow down the sharp decline in the big cats’ numbers. TCM has been around for centuries and it is unreasonable to expect the Chinese will suddenly change their historically accepted practices. It would be like telling Americans to give up their right to freedom of speech; something that is deeply ingrained in our culture and heritage.

To save the wild tiger, maybe it is time to look at US captive tigers as a source for body parts for TCM.

I hate waste and I love big cats, especially tigers. I am a private owner of exotic cats and I dread the day they die. I would do anything to extend the lives of my cherished animals. Being a realist, I know the sad day will come when they will leave me forever.

Many people donate the organs of their deceased loved ones to save the life of another human. It would be just as beneficial if we, private pet and commercial owners of tigers, could help save the wild tiger by donating the parts of our animals that died of old age or terminal illness to be distributed to TCM practitioners in USA.  By providing legal domestic supply, demand for illegally killed wild tigers would be reduced, thus making it less profitable for poachers to slaughter them in the wild.

I have other pets, vegetarians to meat eaters and so no food ever goes to waste in my household, there is always somebody who finds a brown banana or dry bread to be a delicacy. For the same reason I have no problem with livestock farming, as it is usually the whole animal that gets used.

Then why are we wasting perfectly good dead tigers’ parts in the USA by disposing of them as a useless waste instead of supplying the growing demand for them, thus reducing the pressure (poaching demand) on wild populations?

I have had many Internet E-list discussions with traditional tiger conservationist on the subject over the years. They are always resisting free market approaches, advocating for more laws and pumping more money into tiger programs that so far did not increase the number of wild tigers, just the opposite, wild populations are on steep decline.

My interest in the subject has been revived this year after reading August 15, 2006 issue Of The NY Times’ opinion “Sell the Tiger to Save it: A Private Conservation Programme” by Barun Mitra of Liberty Institute in New Delhi, India.

While Barun Mitra is concentrating on the Chinese and Indian programs, I would like to propose an idea for what we can do in the United States.

Even though nobody knows for sure how many tigers really are kept privately in the USA, rough estimates range between 5,000 to 15,000. Most are living comfortable lives while their wild cousins are being poached to extinction. The Endangered Species Act, ESA, prohibits sale of tiger parts across the state lines, while CITES, (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), prohibits international trade in tiger parts.

 Traditional conservationists argue that if the sale of tiger parts becomes legal, it will increase the demand and poaching will increase. However, we will not know until we try it. In the case of American Alligator, captive breeding saved the beast from extinction to the point the animal is now a serious pest in Florida backyards. American bison is another private breeding conservation success.

 I am not proposing farming tigers in USA, killing them for body parts; my plan is to simply allow the private owners to donate the parts from tigers that die of old age or disease. Set up a tiger donation program similar to the human organ donor programs. There would be many levels of oversight and more than one government agency to oversee this program to minimize possible abuse and corruption.

One or more of the already existing wildlife and health agencies could oversee the program. Current tiger owners can donate the carcass of their deceased animals to an agency or foundation set up for this purpose (similar to organ donor agency).

Another agency or organization would be responsible for selling and regulating the distribution to TCM practitioners in the USA. The parts are to be sold under controlled, regulated and documented fashion (similar to narcotics or other controlled substances are now) to the US based stores specializing in Traditional Chinese medicine.

The tiger owner is NOT financially compensated for the tiger parts.  The reward for the tiger owners is knowing they are helping wild tigers. Participants could get a ‘tiger conservationist’ seal or endorsement from the managing agency, making tiger sanctuaries or exhibitors more eligible or attractive to financial donors and audience who wish to help with wild tiger conservation.

 I also suggest legalizing the sale of tiger whiskers. Whiskers are a renewable resource, since the whiskers come from live animals and are shed, growing in intervals. There shouldn’t be a danger of unscrupulous owners killing the tiger for whiskers to make money, since live animals produce whiskers on continual basis. Fines or severe penalties might be required for pulling whiskers from live animals.

By supplying the demand from deceased US captive tigers, the killing of wild tigers by poaching will be drastically reduced and might even save the wild tiger. The poachers are the only losers by having their customer base reduced or eliminated. Everybody else is a winner, the tiger owners who donated their deceased animal knowing they are helping the wild ones. The TCM customers will get their medicine legally, and enforcement agencies who will have less illegal activity to deal with. Instead, this program can finance itself thru the sale of donate tiger parts to TCM practitioners. So why are we already not doing this?