Take Action: Help Save "Generic" Tigers From Illegal Trade
Published September 19, 2011
Flickr User ianduffy
The illegal trade of selling "generic" tiger parts and products manufactured from them is still alive and well in the United States. By helping pass pending legislation, you can help the tigers!
Tigers are one of this planet’s most magnificent big cats. They are mysterious, solitary, regal animals that are bordering on extinction. However, are you aware of the vastly lucrative illegal trade of selling tiger parts and products manufactured from them that still continues right here in the United States?
Unknown are the numbers of tigers that are kept in private hands in our country. Unfortunately, many of these tigers are kept in filthy conditions, being killed just for their parts which are then sold to make illegal products. In this writer’s opinion, this is both disgraceful and outrageous and must be stopped.
You may be asking yourselves why we don't know how many tigers, or where the tigers are located that are being used in this shameful and illegal business. Here is the reason: in 1998 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) made a rule that exempted "generic" tigers from permits or the reporting requirements to which endangered species generally apply.
What are “generic” tigers? These are the tigers that are bred outside the Association of Zoos and Aquariums accredited zoos. Since lack of required reporting facilitates “killing a tiger and selling its parts” without detection, it essentially increases the supply of tiger products available to keep feeding the markets that sell them.
Poachers then have greater incentives to quickly kill these animals in an already devastated wild tiger population. In order to have any chance of saving tigers in the wild from total extinction we must be able to control and track their breeding here in the United States to ensure that our tigers are not entering into this horrendous and illegal trade market.
These tigers need our help right now. We can help save hundreds of tigers with the click of a mouse. The tigers need your help right away. Read more about by visiting the Animal Action Alert. Then go to the link, fill in your information, and say: "I am for the new rule!" It is so simple! Just think: hundreds of tigers will be saved if animal lovers take but a few minutes to support this urgently needed pending legislation.
Those wishing to share more detail can point to the fact that breeding generic tigers has no value in tiger conservation and how breeding must be controlled so that the increasing value of tiger parts does not further threaten the survival of the wild tiger.
But Wednesday, September 21 is the deadline to let our voices be heard. Please join me in your support to save the tigers.
What are your thoughts on the illegal trade of tiger parts? Share them in a comment.
Shortly after retiring as a social worker and psychotherapist, I discovered my "writer's voice"…
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Comments (9)
The Feline Conservation Federation is a 501(c)3 organization with members worldwide consisting of zoos, breeders, exhibitors, researchers, private owners, and wild cat enthusiasts. Our federal and state licensed facilities housing generic tigers move these cats between their facilities in order to fulfill their collective mission of conservation education, breeding for genetic diversity, and the use of these magnificent felines as ambassadors that increase conservation awareness and advocacy of the public at large.
There are no documented cases of any tiger owners killing and selling body parts for the Chinese medicinal black market. This claim copied into this story is a lie. Big Cat Rescue, the person who is spreading this lie, provides the advocacy link in this article.
The smear campaign being waged against the vast majority of reputable facilities holding tigers is being used by this organization to dupe the public into donating money to them.
Always be wary of incredible claims, especially when they are not backed up with any actual details or facts, but are worded to imply they are the truth.
For actual facts about the threats to wild tigers from poaching for the tiger medicinal black market, the state of captive tigers in America, the truth about hybrid tigers, and the documented facts about the more than 95% of American tigers being inspected and tracked by the United States Department of Agriculture and also many state wildlife agencies, read the comments submitted by the Feline Conservation Federation to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!searchResults;dct=PS;rpp=10;po=0;s=generic%252Btiger
and view document FWS-R9-IA-2011-0027-14396
This article is full of misinformation, see the truth here: http://www.rexano.org/Federal_Canada/REXANO_FWS_Tiger.pdf
Just viewed a program on LinkTV (DirecTV) last week about the big money business in China for anything tiger. They raise them in what was termed the "tiger Aushwitz", skin them ALIVE, eat the meat, use male parts for "medicine", bones for wine--the same for dogs, cats, etc., etc. Horrifying.
Signed and shared this some time back; sharing it again, with love and *PRAYERS* for ALL cats, of all species, everywhere.