Loopholes in Laws Are Enabling Illegal Trade of Tiger Body Parts

Loopholes in laws — and lack of enforcement — are bringing lots of opportunities for captive tiger facilities to enter illegal trade deals for tiger body parts across the European Union (EU), according to a new report published by wildlife groups.

The population of wild tigers has been terribly depleted because of habitat destruction and the demand for their body parts that are used for medicines, different types of decoration, and even wine.

In fact, there are way more tigers in captivity than those that are roaming free. 

While there are less than 4,000 tigers in the wild … the captive tiger population is estimated to be over 13,000.

Take a look at this poor captive tiger being tormented by a tourist …

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⚠️PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR FOLLOWERS TO HELP END THIS DISGUSTING ANIMAL CRUELTY!⚠️ A drugged tiger, is tormented by a tourist at the The Xiongsen Bear & Tiger Mountain Village, Guangxi Province, China. An estimated 8,000 tigers are kept in tiger farms across China as their bones are used for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and also for tiger wine, which despite NO SCIENTIFIC DATA WHATSOEVER, many believe acts as an aphrodisiac! We MUST save these poor animals by making EVERYONE aware of this disgusting animal cruelty so please share this sad post with your followers and tag people, celebrities, influencers and news media who need to see this and help us spread awareness about these disgusting and erroneous myths that lead to unimaginable acts of cruelty and eventual death for innocent endangered species like tigers and rhino! Repost from @@savewildtigers and photo by our friend @paulhiltonphoto #spreadingawareness #endanimalcruelty #savethetigers #animalsdeservebetter #karmagawa

A post shared by Karmagawa (@karmagawa) on Sep 30, 2020 at 7:10pm PDT

The loophole comes from mounting evidence that captive facilities — which are legal — are breeding tigers for body parts to be used in products.

According to the report, 43 tigers were determined to be exported from the EU for commercial purposes between 2013 and 2017. During the same time period, there were 95 reported seizures involving live tigers or their body parts. 94% of the items recovered during these seizures were medicinal products containing tiger derivatives.

Although there are restrictions against tigers being bred for trade in parts and products, inspections at facilities are infrequent and with minimal government oversight.

Last year, 10 tigers were found crammed into the back of a truck by Polish border authorities. One died and the rest were emaciated, covered in feces, and extremely stressed.

At Karmagawa, we’re bothered that there aren’t more regulations and checkpoints to protect these beautiful giant cats. We’re also upset that the number of captive tigers far exceeds free ones.

We have to make sure more people know about this so that changes can be made.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more updates … and share our information with your family and friends so that they can stay informed.

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What do you think about the illegal trade of tigers? Comment below.

(Cover image: Alexander Khitrov/Shutterstock)