Eu Parliament calls for more efforts to save the tiger

Tiger. Copyright Wildlife Extra.

September 2008. There are probably as few as 2,500 tigers left alive in the wild, of which just over half are in India. These remaining populations are threatened by demand for their skins and body parts from China and East Asia, and habitat loss due to forest clearance and illegal industrial development.

The resolution calls on both Europe and India to redouble efforts to tackle the organised gangs behind the trafficking of tiger parts, and to work together to protect forest habitats.

Body parts used in Medicine
Currently the main demand for tiger products comes from China, where bones and body parts are used in medicine; while skins are used for home décor, clothing and non-financial bribes.

Tiger skins for sale - $15,000
Recent undercover work by the Environmental Investigation Agency, a group which works to combat environmental crime, found whole tiger skins on sale in China for RMB 100,000 (US$15,000).

Despite widespread evidence of the serious and organised nature of wildlife and environmental crime, enforcement efforts in many parts of the world remain inadequate. In India, the government has recently established a dedicated agency for tackling wildlife crime.

India launches specialist wildlife crime bureau
Sarah Ludford, an MEP who has campaigned on the issue, said: "By setting up the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, India has taken an important step towards improving enforcement and tackling the networks behind illegal tiger trade. By raising this issue we are calling for the European Union to offer technical and financial assistance, and to ensure that the issue gets maximum political support."

Quick recovery possible
Despite the fact that tiger numbers are so low, conservationists are optimistic, pointing out that if the right measures are taken tigers can recover rapidly.

Alasdair Cameron of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA): "Protecting the tiger is not just about protecting a species, but about protecting the forests it lives in and the ecosystems which depend on it.

"In many cases we know what we need to do, but it requires political will. India has taken the lead in developing a 21st Century approach to wildlife crime, we need other countries like China to do the same."