IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Eia, | |
| Skin Deep: The need for effective enforcement to combat the Asian Big Cat skin trade | |
| 2008 Full Book | |
The open availability of Appendix 1 Asian big cat skins for sale in Linxia, Gansu Province of the PRC, continues. EIA investigators found 13 snow leopard skins, 13 leopard skins and 1 whole tiger skin for sale in just one street during a five-day period in June 2008 Traders stated that Asian big cat skins for sale were sourced from Afghanistan, Burma, China (Yunnan, Sichuan, Qinghai, Xinjiang), India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia and Vietnam Traders stated that buyers come from all over China and the skins are marketed as ready-made rugs for home d‚cor or taxidermy "specimens". A number of traders commented on the decline in demand from the Tibetan community and there was an obvious decline in the number of shops openly selling skins in the street. EIA investigators observed five traders who have been documented selling Asian big cat skins in previous years. The trader offering a whole tiger skin clearly stated that a contact in the local Forest Bureau alerts him in advance of Bureau inspections. Since 2005, EIA and the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), have consistently provided sufficient information to relevant Chinese authorities to facilitate intelligence-led enforcement action. EIA is aware that enforcement efforts to date have resulted in the confiscation of 30 snow leopard skins and 51 leopard skins between 2003 and 2007. These efforts appear to be cosmetic and clearly more covert, pro-active, coordinated, intelligence-led enforcement approaches are required to stop persistent offenders. |
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