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."

 

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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)