Chinese demand for tiger wine and skins puts wild cats in peril | World news | The Guardian

Chinese demand for tiger wine and skins puts wild cats in peril | World news | The Guardian: "ver since establishing the farms, Chinese wildlife officials have been campaigning for international approval to lift the ban on tiger bone use, arguing that the country has a right to use its “domestic natural resources” as it sees fit, and that tiger bone wine – rice wine in which bones from the big cats have been soaking – is medically effective and part of Chinese culture. They contend that the trade could be regulated effectively to reduce the demand for wild tiger parts.

But even as the rest of the world disagrees, it appears that China has gone ahead anyway. Multiple probes by the EIA and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) over the past decade, together with The Washington Post’s own investigation, show the tiger bone wine industry has boomed, with support from the SFA.

“After these farms started selling wine, and taxidermists started selling tiger pelts, it really stimulated waning demand from consumers,” said Grace Ge Gabriel of the IFAW.

Xiongshen alone says it houses more than 1,000 tigers – although fewer than 200 are available for tourists to view – and 500 bears, legally farmed to extract their bile for a different wine."



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