Reports

Tiger park Guilin (Photo U. Breitenmoser)

PDF IUCN/SSC Cat SG statement
PDF workshop report

International Workshop on Strategy for Tiger Conservation and Cat SG statement on trade ban lift

In fall 2006, China announced to reconsider the special order issued by the State Council in 1993 prohibiting all medical use of and trade in tiger bone. There are now 5000 tigers in captive facilities – so called tiger farms – in China, and the breeders and the TCM manufacturers demand legalising the use of derivatives from these animals. The controversial issue was also a prominent topic at the 14^th Conference of the Parties to CITES in May 2007 in Den Haag, Netherlands (see report by Nowell et al. in Cat News 47, autumn 2007). Decisions regarding Asian big cats directed to the Parties and to the Secretariat were taken (see www.cites.org/eng/dec/valid14/14_65-72.shtml), and Resolution Conf. 12.5 “Conservation of and trade in tigers and other Appendix-I Asian big cat species” addressed the problem of captive breeding directly (see http://www.cites.org/eng/res/12/12-05.shtml). The Chinese delegation explained their point of view in a document distributed at CoP 14, whereas the International Tiger Coalition, an alliance of 35 NGOs united under the common aim of stopping trade in tiger parts and products from all sources, campaigning against China to reopen the domestic tiger bone trade.

The Chinese invited the international conservation community to comment about the use of captive tigers for TCM and its possible impact on the remnant wild tiger populations, based on scientific evidence, and to discuss the issue at the International Workshop on Strategy for Tiger Conservation organised by the State Forestry Administration in Harbin, 7-8 July 2007. The IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group has taken the opportunity to express its view on the use of captive bred tigers and has handed over its position statement at the Harbin conference in July 2007. We are grateful to all our Asian big cat expert members who have contributed to the position statement, and we are grateful to the Chinese State Forestry Administration to invite the Cat Specialist Group to participate in the Harbin Symposium and to consider our views.

Strategic Planing Workshop for Leopard Conservation in the Caucasus

From May 30 to June 1, 2007, representatives from the Range Country agencies, exponents of nature conservation organisations, and wildlife scientists met in Tbilisi, Georgia, to develop in a participative process a comprehensive Conservation Strategy for the leopard in the Caucasus.

Workshop report

Evaluation of WWF's Snow Leopard Conservation Activities in Mongolia

Urs Breitnmoser, Victor Lukarevskiy and Onon Yondon

The snow leopard (Uncia uncia) is a rare and elusive predator of the high rocky

mountains of Central Asia. The Mongolian snow leopard population is estimated to be about 1000 (believed to be 13–22 of the global population). The main distribution area is in the west and southwest of the country. Main threats were identified to be (1) direct persecution, (2) prey depletion, and (3) habitat deterioration and population fragmentation. The species is classified Endangered in the IUCN/SSC Red List. WWF and partner organisation have started a conservation programme in the Mongolian Altai region in 1995, using the snow leopard as a flagship species. This report provides a review and assessment of this conservation programme on behalf of WW, its partners and supporters.

Report

7th Conservation Workshop for the Fauna of Arabia Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife, Sharjah, UAE, 19–22 February 2006

Since 2000, the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife has organised workshops for the conservation of the fauna of Arabia. The workshop, held each year in February, has become a widely recognised forum for nature conservation on the Arabian Peninsula, where conservationists of all Arab countries and international experts meet. Several IUCN/SSC specialist groups support the process, including the Cat Specialist Group, which has been permanently involved since the first meeting in 2000. The focus cat for the work in this region is the Critically Endangered Arabian leopard, of which no more than 200 roam in the wild.

Workshop report

INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON CONSERVATION EDUCATION FOR THE ANDEAN CAT - Planning a common educational strategy for Andean cat conservation, Salta, Argentina, 14-16 November 2005

The Andean cat Oreailurus jacobita is one of the most endangered and least known cats in the world. In 2004, the Andean Cat Alliance (AGA) published the Andean Cat Conservation Action Plan, which listed the design and implementation of a global educational campaign as a priority for the long-term conservation of this rare felid. To accomplish this goal, an international workshopon was held in Argentina. The meeting was organized by M.J. Merino, M. Lucherini (GECM, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina) and P. Perovic (IBIGEO, Universidad Nacional de Salta) in partnership with Wildlife Conservation Network (USA), Darwin Initiative (UK) and BP Conservation Programme (UK) and with the endorsement of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group.

The English summary of the workshop report is now available

Seminar and Workshop in Mavrovo MK, 15-17 November 2005

Meeting report to the Standing Committee, Bern Convention:
Breitenmoser, U., Schwaderer, G., von Arx, M., Zimmermann, F., Spangenberg, A., Breitenmoser-Würsten, Ch. & Linnell, J. 2005: The Conservation of the Balkan Lynx - Seminar on Large Carnivores in the Balkans and Workshop on the monitoring of the Balkan Lynx. Council of Europe Publishing, T-PVS/Inf (2005) 20.

Report and group photo

The wild cats: Ecological diversity and conservation strategy

During the IX International Mammalogical Congress in Okinawa, Japan, in August 2005, a satellite symposium on “The wild cats. Ecological diversity and conservation strategy” was organized by Japanese sceintists, among them the two Cat Specialist Group members Masako Izawa and Teruo Doi. The Symposium idea was to gather cat experts working on ecology and conservation of a variety of cat species in different parts of the world to support an exchange of information related to the felid conservation problems.

Workshop report and group photo (large) provided by Krzysztof Schmidt