China has for the first time admitted in public that it permits trade in skins from captive tigers, according to participants and officials at a meeting of an international convention to protect endangered species.
They said the Chinese authorities had never before reported this to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).
However, during the convention’s standing committee meeting in Geneva, China reportedly said that it still banned tiger bones.
“A Chinese delegate said, ‘we don’t ban trade in tiger skins but we do ban trade in tiger bones,'” a participant in the meeting said.
Cites secretariat sources confirmed that a member of the Chinese delegation had said this.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told the BBC Chinese Service he could not verify the reported admission, but he said that China will “investigate and combat” any illegal trade in tiger skins.
Between 5,000 and 6,000 tigers are believed to be in captivity in China. Wildlife conservation organisations have long demanded an end to the trade in skins.
Wildlife experts believe “tiger farming” in China has fuelled demand for the poaching and trafficking of the endangered species elsewhere.
They say the admission at the meeting will increase pressure on China to curb the practice.
Reports also say that the facilities where the captive tigers are held have been providing live animals and parts for illegal international trade.
While China has been a major market for tiger parts, wildlife experts say other South East Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Lao, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia are also emerging as consumers, where tiger farming is growing.
Reports say that in the past two years, there have been seizures of nearly 90 tigers likely to have been sourced from, or trafficked through, captive facilities across South East Asia and China.
A little more than 3,000 tigers are believed to be left in the wild across the globe. More than half of those are in India, where 42 tigers were killed last year.
