Burmese Language
Global bid to end tiger trade launched
Interpol on Wednesday launched a new campaign to coordinate the global fight against tiger poaching, warning that failure to protect the endangered cats would have economic and social repercussions.
The international police organisation said it was imperative that the 13 nations where tigers can still be found work together to combat wildlife crime.
David Higgins, manager of Interpol’s environment crime programme, said the extinction of the tiger would impact not only biodiversity but the “economic stability and security stability” of countries where they are now found.
“The communities, the nations will lose confidence in their governments, and their good governance and their rule of law to be able to protect an iconic species such as the tiger from criminality,” he said in Vietnam.
Interpol’s new Project Predator is designed to help coordinate efforts of police, customs and wildlife officials in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
“Illegal trade and trafficking in tiger parts and products is rampant across international borders, making enforcement of laws against it a challenge,” Interpol said in a statement released at its annual general meeting in Hanoi.
Project Predator, which has US, British and World Bank funding, will also share information with conservation agencies in an effort to raise awareness.
Higgins said law enforcement was “not the only answer” and greater education and poverty reduction were also needed.
Tiger numbers have been devastated by poaching and loss of habitat in the last century, falling from an estimated 100,000 in 1900 to fewer than 3,500 now, Interpol said.
The big cats, which are hunted for their fur, bones and other parts, are expected to be extinct by 2022 if left unprotected, according to wildlife group WWF.
Deputy head of Vietnam’s department of environmental crimes, Major General Vu Hong Vuong, told reporters that the country had more than 110 tigers — although 80 of these were kept in captivity.
“We have detected several cases of tiger trafficking from Thailand, through Laos, Myanmar [Burma] to Vietnam and then to China. We need the cooperation from police of other countries in the protection of wild animals, especially tigers,” he said.
Tags: burma, china, interpol, myanmar, thailand, tiger
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With Chinese having too much money with no conscience, tigers ogt no chance. People can make a big a deal as they want for next few years. By the time Chinese got the pipeline across Burma with the blessing of Than Shwe and NLD, the only tiger would be in the pictures.
Although all the 13 countries stated are engaged in the trade of wild-life, the main culprit is China with it’s huge population, different cultures, beliefs and their insatiable thirst for all kinds of animal parts and anatomies makes the trade flourish to no end. In addition to this demand China is also a huge market for timber, exotic plants, gems,minerals and oil, making this up-coming super-power of the world a modern-day colonial imperialist that the world has to reckon with and take preventive measures towards their expansion and exploitation of other countrie’s natural resources.
There are but a few wealthy people, not just in China, who feel that they can purchase exotic wild species like Tigers for their own personal purposes. To this aim they are prepared to furnish cash rewards along a value chain that includes government regulatory officials, various middle men and of course those that are commissioned to capture or kill animals. The poachers do not go to work without the lure of income. Appointed junior and senior government officials know the law, they have no excuse but frequently the poverty of their income allows for their being diverted from upholding their duties. Private trader groups commissioned to provide the facilitations required are by no means illiterate poverty impacted people. They know the structure of the import-export trade and hold the resources to hand to ensure that movements can be undetected or managed. This takes quantities of cash. The wealthy at the top of this value chain are by no means unsure or uncertain about the fact that they are breaking the law and further many simply care not to heed the obvious. There will be no wild Tigers and many other species if poaching and trade continue to be supported. The rules impose maximum penalties upon the poorest personal within links of this value chain. There is no place in the world were it is legal to purchase Tigers in part or whole. This is the case with many CITES protected species. In all of China, USA and beyond there are no individuals that do not know that stimulating markets (making purchases of) for protected species is illegal. Those that are doing so from the top down invariably know that what they are doing is against the law. They have no excuse upon which to rely upon. As worthless members of our societies these wealthy people with the disposable income enough to consider the demise of a species inconsequential should simply be left naked in the streets, shunned, considered less than human, stripped of any wealth or ability to defend themselves.