China to allow trade in endangered tiger, rhino products again

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China to allow trade in endangered tiger, rhino products again

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By Associated Press October 30, 2018 | 5:28am

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BEIJING — China says it will allow trading in products made from endangered tigers and rhinos under “special circumstances,” reversing a previous ban and bringing condemnation from conservation groups.

A notice from the Cabinet issued Monday avoided mentioning any change in the law, saying instead that it would “control” the trade and that rhino horns and tiger bones could only be obtained from farmed animals for use in “medical research or in healing.”

“Under the special circumstances, regulation on the sales and use of these products will be strengthened, and any related actions will be authorized, and the trade volume will be strictly controlled,” the statement said.

Tiger bone and rhino horn are used in traditional Chinese medicine, despite a lack of evidence of their effectiveness in treating illness and the effect on wild populations. Chinese demand for ivory is also blamed as a driver behind the slaughter of African elephants, despite Beijing banning all trade in ivory starting from this year.

No reason was given for the lifting of the ban, which was implemented in 1993 amid a global push to protect fast-disappearing endangered species.

The statement also said nothing about regulating the farming of tigers and rhinos, but added that the central government “urged governments at all levels to improve publicity activities for protecting rhinos and tigers to help the public actively boycott any illegal purchases.”

The World Wildlife Fund said the move to overturn the ban would have “devastating consequences globally” by allowing poachers and smugglers to hide behind the legalized trade.

“With wild tiger and rhino populations at such low levels and facing numerous threats, legalized trade in their parts is simply too great a gamble for China to take,” Margaret Kinnaird, WWF wildlife practice leader, was quoted as saying in a statement from the Washington-based organization.

“This decision seems to contradict the leadership China has shown recently in tackling the illegal wildlife trade,” Kinnaird said.

Despite the former ban, China has long allowed tiger farms, which harvest the bones of dead animals, and tacitly allows their sale for alleged medicinal purposes, according to a study by the Environmental Investigation Agency, a British nonprofit.

Operators are also believed to be investigating the possibility of farming rhinos in the country, although, unlike tigers, those are not native to China.

The EIA called the overturning of the ban a “brazen and regressive move which drastically undermines international efforts for tiger and rhino conservation.”

“At a single stroke, China has shattered its reputation as a growing leader in conservation following its domestic ban on the sale of ivory at the start of the year,” the group said.

An estimated 3,890 tigers remain alive in the wild, according to a report presented during the Third Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation in 2016. Thousands of tigers are also believed to have been bred on Chinese farms where conditions for the animals are often criticized as dire.

Studies put the population of wild rhinos at less than 30,000, while poaching is reducing that number drastically each year.

Humane Society International also criticized China’s move, saying that “the trade it engenders will inevitably increase pressure on animals in the wild.”

“With this announcement, the Chinese government has signed a death warrant for imperilled rhinos and tigers in the wild who already face myriad threats to their survival,” Iris Ho, the group’s senior specialist for wildlife program and policy, was quoted as saying in a statement.

“It sets up what is essentially a laundering scheme for illegal tiger bone and rhino horn to enter the marketplace and further perpetuate the demand for these animal parts,” Ho said.

https://nypost.com/2018/10/30/china-to- ... cts-again/


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Re: China to allow trade in endangered tiger, rhino products again

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At least they are not pretending any more... O**


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Re: China to allow trade in endangered tiger, rhino products again

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I wonder why this change of mind :-? Maybe they have become so strong that they do not care anymore what the Occident is thinking about them -O-


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Re: China to allow trade in endangered tiger, rhino products again

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I think their tiger and rhino farms are now running more strongly. :yes:


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Re: China to allow trade in endangered tiger, rhino products again

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That might be the reason \O In such a big country there is lots of money involved :yes:


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Re: China to allow trade in endangered tiger, rhino products again

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Was watching international news last night and there was quite an outcry about this announcement!! :yes:


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Re: China to allow trade in endangered tiger, rhino products again

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Yes, here too \O Also this morning :yes:

I found the subject in a Danish newspaper and asked Google in English and it was in an article that had just arrived \O


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Re: China to allow trade in endangered tiger, rhino products again

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Lisbeth wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 3:03 pm It sets up what is essentially a laundering scheme for illegal tiger bone and rhino horn to enter the marketplace.
I think this is the key to allowing the "limited trade" 0*\


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Re: China to allow trade in endangered tiger, rhino products again

Post by Flutterby »

Saw this on FB today:

A Chinese pro-trophy hunting social media account translated and circulated a congratulatory letter from Hume....

'BIG CONGRATULATIONS – CHINA CAN HELP SAVE RHINOS.

My name is John Hume, I am a retired property developer and the founder of a private rhino conservation project located in the North West Province of South Africa at Buffalo Dream Ranch (BDR).

I, together with an extremely dedicated team of over 90 people, run a White Rhinoceros Captive Breeding Operation (CBO) which houses the most diverse gene pool of white rhino on the planet. We currently protect and care for 1,622 rhinos and have successfully bred 1,085 in the past 9 years. At the moment we have over 300 pregnant rhino females and by March 2019 we will reach a goal of breeding 200 rhino calves annually. Our project has also achieved an exceptional level of security for rhinos wherein, through the past 36 months, we have lost only 2 rhinos to poaching, and we have just celebrated 19 months of zero poaching .

We are delighted by and would like to congratulate the Chinese State Council on the announcement made yesterday of the controlling the trade and use of rhinoceros, tigers and their related products in China from farmed animals.
As the forefront line against rhino poaching in South Africa we are convinced that this decision will go down in history as a landmark moment in global effort to save rhinos for future generations.

We believe that it’s important to finally recognize the main cause for rhino poaching crisis that threatens species with extinction, w, while the blame is on poachers and the demand on rhino horn, it’s hardly acknowledged that it is the prohibition on legal supply that provides a monopoly for organized crime in wildlife trafficking that order the poaching of rhinos. What’s more, the only beneficiaries from the prohibition are illegal traders and many powerful NGOs who oppose controlled trade in rhino horn because their businesses depend and thrive on money collected from outcomes of the wildlife suffering done by the organized crime.

The power of such NGOs is in their ability of having a strong influence to CITES policies, such as keeping in place a failed global prohibition on trade in rhino horn, which in reality secures the monopoly for illegal traders and insures constant donations to these NGOs. We are of the opinion that such NGOs should be identified as the main threat to the survival of any endangered species that are facing poaching crisis and finally be recognized as the advocates for the organized crime in wildlife trafficking. Our statement is supported by facts concerning rhino conservation which we would like to present here.

We strongly believe that regulated supply of legal rhino horn from farmed rhinos will provide a competition to the established monopoly of the illegal supply and will significantly reduce the poaching. It would also serve to divert desperately needed rhino revenues away from criminals and into the hands of legitimate Rhino Custodians and Governments to ensure the strengthening of protection measures, policing, and the required governance in wildlife conservation.

Yours sincerely,
John Hume'


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