Please read article, we would really like to know what you think about this cruel reality. CHINAS TIGER PARKS UNDER FIRE The tourists piled into the bus, which took them through a series of gates into an enclosed, snow-covered field. Within minutes, the bus - modified so that a steel cage covered the windows - was surrounded by more than 20 Siberian tigers. A Toyota Land Cruiser pulled into the enclosure and someone inside tossed out two live chickens that landed near the left side of the bus. Cameras clicked and blood splattered. Within seconds, the tigers had ripped the birds apart. As inhumane as this scene from February might appear, it is just a small part of what happens each day at Chinas tiger farms. SANCTIONED BY THE GOVERNMENT BUT ACCUSED OF ROUTINELY VIOLATING CHINESE LAWS AND INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS, THESE FARMS EXIST MAINLY TO BREED AND KILL TIGERS FOR THE MARKETING OF PELTS AND TIGER BONE WINE. A visit by a reporter to Chinas two largest tiger farms, in the northern city of Harbin and in the southern city of Guilin, found animals in deplorable conditions. In both cities, merchants openly sold bone wine, despite a 1993 ban by China on bone products sourced from both domesticated and wild tigers. Chinas treatment of tigers was pushed further into the spotlight last week, when 15 people in south China were arrested for killing at least 10 of the big cats. According to a newspaper, the Nanfang Daily, the tigers were killed to provide entertainment and fresh meat for businessmen hoping to show off their wealth in the city of Zhanjiang, in Guangdong province. Animal welfare experts say such incidents show the Chinese government has done little to enforce its 1993 ban on the trade in tiger bones, a requirement of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which Beijing has ratified. Chinas wildlife law has all kinds of problems, says Toby Zhang, a Chengdu-based researcher for Animals Asia Foundation, a nonprofit organisation. It effectively encourages people to breed tigers and other animals and use their parts for commerce. For decades, China has sanctioned and even subsidised captive-breeding programs of rare animals, largely to supply enterprises that manufacture traditional medicines. At scores of bear farms, for instance, workers harvest bile from domesticated bears to make potions that purportedly cure liver problems and relieve hangovers. Until recently, Chinese officials argued that, with tigers facing extinction in China and many parts of Asia, tiger farms helped relieve pressure on wild populations. Yet many wildlife experts say the opposite may be true. With the growth of the tiger bone market, wealthy connoisseurs reportedly seek products derived from wild tigers, thinking theyll be more potent. Meanwhile, copycat tiger farms have sprouted in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, and wildlife organisations suspect those have made use of captured tigers to enrich the gene pool of their breeding stock. There no evidence that the trade in captivity-bred tiger parts has relieved pressure on wild tigers, says Debbie Banks, a wildlife campaigner with the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency, which produced a report on Chinas tiger farms last year. Read full article at: stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/9916048/Chinas-tiger-parks-under-fire If you like it, please share it? ECSST (Endangered Cat Species Survival Trust) Homepage: ecsst.org Facebook: facebook/Endangeredcatspecies Twitter: https://twitter/ECSST777 Photographers group: facebook/groups/332219533550937/
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 12:10:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015