A forestry official confirmed to Xinhua News Agency yesterday
that China had no intention of easing its 13-year-old ban on the
trade in tiger bones that are highly valued for use in traditional
medicines.
Cao Qingyao, spokesman for the State Forestry
Administration (SFA), said China was very concerned about wild
tigers worldwide and would continue to work with the international
community to save the species.
"A number of international organizations and experts have
questioned China's wild tiger protection policies," Cao said. "The
government attaches great importance to their queries. A worldwide
policy study on how to effectively protect wild tigers and help
them multiply is underway," he explained. ?
Cao said China "welcomed well-researched advice or comments from
experts and anyone who cares about the fate of wild tigers."
?
Suspicions that the ban imposed in 1993 had been eased spread
when tiger bone wine -- also known as "bone-restoring wine" --
reappeared on the Chinese market last year. Xiongsen Distillery, a
subsidiary of Guilin's Xiongsen Bear and Tiger Park located in
Guilin in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, was approved
by SFA to produce tiger bone and bear bile wine.
The company assured China Youth Daily that its
bone-restoring wine was made with tiger bones. By August it had
used the skeletons of over 400 farmed tigers. Cao didn't comment on
the Xiongsen Distillery case. But the use of artificially bred
tigers hit the headlines last year.
The Huifu Fine Food Restaurant in Huangshan City of east
China's?Anhui Province was reportedly serving special
dishes of endangered Chinese alligators in December. The restaurant
said it had acquired a special license from?SFA to use
alligators raised at a breeding center.
Only about 150 alligators are thought to be still living in the
wild in Anhui and neighboring Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces along the Yangtze River.
It's estimated that fewer than 20 wild tigers remain in northeast
China and about 30 roam in the southwest along the border with
Myanmar and Laos.
Last September several Chinese tiger parks pressed the
government to lift its ban on the trade in tiger products,
according to Shanghai Daily.
Cao said tigers had enjoyed state protection since 1988 and
nature reserves had been established in their major habitats.
"There has been no change to these policies in the past two
decades," he said.
In 2004 several dozen rare species were ranked as "usable
resources" by the forestry authorities including spotted deer, blue
peacock and ostrich. This move has drawn constant criticism from
animal rights groups but advocates argue that artificially bred
animals of rare species should be used for the good of the
people.
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2007)
