China's Reversal of a Rhino Horn and Tiger Bones Ban Alarms Conservationists [View all]
Source: Time
By CASEY QUACKENBUSH / HONG KONG 5:34 AM EDT
Reversing a 25-year-old ban, China announced Monday that it will allow the use and trade of rhino and tiger parts, enraging conservationists who warn the move will further jeopardize already imperiled species.
China’s State Council said the ban, enacted in 1993, would be partially lifted to allow tiger and rhino parts to be used for medicine, scientific research and “cultural exchanges,” underscoring that the trade will be strictly controlled and the products must come from animals in captivity.
But wildlife activists are infuriated by the reversal. They say the move could further threaten to push tigers and rhinos into extinction by emboldening traffickers to poach and stockpile goods for a country that places exceptional value on the animals’ parts.
“If a poachers think that there’s even a possibility of laundering the product, that will be enough to increase their activities,” says Colman O’Criodain, a wildlife trade specialist at the World Wildlife Fund. “Basically, people are betting on extinction.”
Read more: http://time.com/5438693/china-tiger-rhino-ban-medicine/
= new reply since forum marked as read