Conserving the Tiger: Can The Market Succeed?
A.K. Enamul Haque Ph.D
You all know that I was visiting China while I was writing my last episode of East West. My last writing was also on China but it was more about China than anything else. This month we debate the trip itself.
China had at least four species of tiger for centuries. These are: the Amur tiger, South China tiger, Indo-China tiger and the Bengal tiger. Over time, these tigers went almost extinct. Why? There are many factors.
Population pressure, poverty and underdevelopment had led to changes in the land use pattern in the past. This means that land previously used for forest and wildlife was changed and the tigers lost their habitat. Today in China there are no tigers left in the wild except 16-26 Amur (Siberian) tigers in the northern region.
Besides the loss of habitat many also point out that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) also use tiger extracts. Tiger bones and body organs were used in China, which contribute to the extinction of tigers. Some conservationists even go further and tell that the craving for tiger parts in China is also responsible for the reduction in tiger population in the neighboring countries. Consequently the Chinese government became concerned and decided to act on it.
In the first step China wanted to bring back tigers in the wild. In the second step it wanted to develop substitutes for tiger extracts in the TCM. In the third step China temporarily banned the use of tiger parts in China in 1993. Furthermore, China upgraded the status of tigers in the list of protected animals. This means that trading tigers dead or alive or trading tiger parts result in severe punishment under Chinese Law.
In 2006, after 14 years of implementation of these measures China observed even though if had banned tiger-based TCM, removed such medicine from the list of Chinese drugs and had changed the medical practice act, the number of tigers in the neighboring countries continues to decline. On the other hand, China also actively engaged its scientists to start breeding tigers in their zoos and safaris. At the same time there were reports that illegal trades of tiger parts still exists, people did not like tiger substitutes in their medicines as they thought initially, counterfeit drugs were in the illegal markets and that cow-bones were used as tiger-bones to produce fake medicines sold in the illegal markets. Poor Chinese patients started paying through their suffering to protect tigers! The point is, “Are the tigers safe now?”
Reports from the region further suggest that poaching of tigers in Myanmar, Thailand, India and Nepal (countries bordering with China!) are on the rise and the poachers are taking higher risks to smuggle tiger parts in China. The network for smuggling is quite heavy and includes many agents from state forest officers to border police. On the other hand, inside China surveillance is up to keep tigers away but it is also failing, as millions of Chinese are demanding to restore their rights to use tiger-based Traditional Chinese Medicines. Many of these patients are suffering from diseases like arthritis, pains in joints, etc. which are chronic in nature. As we know patients suffering from chronic diseases usually try all sorts of medicines and often they take drugs that are also harmful to them. Consequently, when Tiger parts based TCMs are withdrawn from the legal market, these patients resorted to illegal markets that supply these medicines. Here it is important to note that TCMs are well known to Chinese and such medicines were being used for the past 1500 years in China.
Interestingly, as the legal doors for tiger based medicines are shut-off by the government, illegal markets began to flourish making it difficult for any government agency to monitor. At the same time, fake medicines started to appear in the illegal markets and patients started to suffer more. Because China has been implementing the ban quite strictly, the price of tiger parts in the illegal market began to rise. On the other hand, since 1987 China had been trying to increase its captive tiger population through breeding programs. Over years, this population has reached nearly 5000 in its major zoos and safaris. In our trip to two such places, we have seen female tigers are put on restrictions so that they do not breed. The population is beyond the capacities of these breeding centers. The Chinese wildlife department is also quite active to ensure that each one of these tigers are accounted for and so they have been inserting micro-chips to keep track of these tigers (dead or alive). There have been some natural deaths inside these centers and they are expected to keep a complete count of these dead animals. During our trip to China we did visit the storages (big refrigeration chambers) where these parts are preserved for inspection by the Chinese wildlife inspectors. Some of these farms are privately owned and are financially loosing because each tiger approximately costs 4000 $ in terms of its annual feed and health programs.
This make the case more complicated. Owners of the breeding farms are demanding withdrawal of bans so that they can earn extra by selling tiger parts to be used in Chinese medicines. Patients are already demanding withdrawal of bans so that they can receive authentic medicines and get relieved from the chronic pains. Conservationists on the other hand, are demanding continuing of the ban to ensure that tigers are not killed like chickens in the farms and that poachers find it difficult to sell the tiger parts in China.  The problem, to me, does not have a simple answer.
Can we claim that 14 years of the ban has improved the scenario? If not then the ban might not have been working? Can we claim that implementation of the ban in China is relaxed and so it has become easier for poachers to find a ready market in China?
Recent reports on traffic of parts in China suggest “law enforcement in China has improved greatly… they found very little evidence of tiger bones in Chinese markets”. At the same time, discussion with breeding farms suggests that they would like to see the ban removed so that they can get rid of their current stockpiles of tiger bones. They do not mean to suggest that they would kill tigers to get the bones; rather they would use the bones of dead tigers for trading. This, according to them, would enable them to recover 40-50 percent of the expenditure. Against this backdrop, the Chinese government invited a group of environmental economists and conservationists to suggest policies to them.
This was tough call for us. In absence of sufficient data, the entire argument is based on rational logic. Our team was divided into two groups; the first group went to several places in China to see for themselves the progress in reintroduction of tigers in the wild. The second group visited several breeding centers, Traditional Chinese Medicine centers, forest departments, universities and research centers to develop a common understanding on the Chinese markets.
At the end, we realized that this is Catch 22 for us. Our final arguments are as follows:
•   Begin a limited and closely monitored market using the licensed breeding centers and TCM manufacturers to treat a fixed number of people in designated hospitals. Tiger based medicines shall be classified as a prescription drug, and not available for over the counter sale.
•   Introduce a strict rule to ensure traceability of the tiger-parts traded in the market.
•   The Chinese wildlife authority should monitor reduction of prices in the market due to these activities. If the price drop is significant in the market, and if the Chinese enforcement of ban on imports (legal or illegal) on tiger parts is strengthened then over time, poachers will not find it profitable to smuggle in tiger parts. The traceability characteristics of tiger parts used in TCMs will make the medicine authentic and useful for genuine patients and so they will not demand medicine from underground markets.
•   The results should be analyzed to understand the impact on poaching and if it can be shown that poaching has fallen outside China then we can show that market can be trusted to preserve tigers.
Traditional Chinese Medicine: Tigers Pay the Price, the West Recoils
By Philip Shaw M.Sc.
This is what I know about Tigers. In 2003 Dr. Haque and I went for a walk near the coastal settlement of Katka Bangladesh on the mouth of the Ganges River on the Indian Ocean. When you walk there everybody carries a gun. However, we had no gun. We were armed with a camera and maybe my hat. East West readers know the rest of the story.
I have often thought of that day. When you see a Tiger close up in the wild and live to tell about it, that’s something you never forget. The tiger should have eaten both of us that day. When I got back to the boat that day, I knew I had cheated death. I’ve often wondered what that Tiger thought of the big white guy passing his way. Luckily for me, he wasn’t hungry.
When Enamul first told me he was going to China I didn’t bat an eye. In Asia he’s everywhere. If it is not Nepal, it’s Pakistan, if not there it’s India, if not there, its Bangkok or Malaysia. No he’d never been to China before, but I thought it only a matter of time. Little did I know he was asked to come to give his opinion about the great Tiger. I’m sure in his deliberation with the Chinese he related our Tiger story.
It would be easy as a child of the west to dismiss Chinese Traditional Medicine or CTM. It would seem in the west if the drugs aren’t expensive and made from some big corporate player with a fancy marketing campaign they are no good. Looking at vast shelves full of Tylenol versus the thoughts of TCM and tiger bones makes many in the west recoil. It has only been recently that Canada has accepted CTM as an accepted practice.
You might call it chauvinism western style. One thing that strikes you when you visit Asia is how different it is “from where you are from.” With that there is a whole different thought process, which surely manifests itself out in the geo-politics of the day. Feelings about the majestic tiger running wild and being threatened by Chinese Traditional Medicine surely wouldn’t render much sympathy in the Starbucks coffee shops in western circles. Using “market economics” to ration the nuances of the Tiger trade has even less half-life.
However it may work. Taking the incentive away from the poachers is always a good thing. But it is a long and winding road. With China’s explosive economic growth the demand for tiger bones will surely become more robust.
One thing Enamul didn’t say is the Chinese have asked him back to do more work on this very important issue. He has told me he doubts if he’ll be able to go. However I hope he reconsiders and the stars comes together to make it happen. That Katka Tiger which decided not to eat us that day surely didn’t know what he started. But in a round a bout way, he made it better for all his Tiger friends. Hopefully the Chinese will come to a solution with the help of economists like Enamul, which will be mutually beneficial to everyone, especially the Tigers.