At a special All-Party Parliament China Group event yesterday (2 April), hosted by Rebecca Pow MP, MPs heard how international trade in the body parts of Asia’s endangered tigers and leopards is banned – but that they are still poached for their skins, bones, teeth and claws because of demand among Chinese consumers.
If you live in the UK, we ask you to call on your local MP to join our campaigners at an event in Parliament on 2 April 2019 to explore how the UK can work with China to become big cat conservation champions.
Our Tiger campaigners are encouraged to see recommendations adopted by tiger range countries (TRCs) at the 3rd Stocktaking Conference on Tiger ConservationPDF included a strong message calling for an end to tiger farming and the closure of domestic markets for tiger parts.
At the fourth Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London, we were disappointed by the absence of a stronger call for the closure of legal domestic markets for parts and products of elephants, big cats, pangolins and other species threatened by trade
At the forefront of calls for transnational wildlife and forest crime to be properly recognised and tackled, our campaigners are attending to push for positive outcomes on a number of important campaign issues and to get the results of our investigations and analysis into the right hands to drive meaningful change
The Chinese Government has permitted a commercial trade in 1,230.5 kg of leopard bone between pharmaceutical companies which represents the bones of more than 100 leopards. Widespread trade in leopard bone wine in China is concerning as it drives poaching and decimates wild populations of leopards and other big cats.