Home>News Center>Life
         
 

Skin trade threatens few surviving tigers
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-29 15:05

The world's tiger population has plummeted by 95 percent from the start of the 20th century to as few as 5,000 now and is further threatened by the lucrative trade in their skins, officials told a forum Friday.


An official from the Global Tiger Forum said Nov. 26, 2004 that the world's tiger population has plummeted by 95 percent from the start of the 20th century to as few as 5,000 now. In Asia, tiger skins can sell for $15,000 while in Vietnam a skeleton, the bones widely believed by Asians to be an aphrodisiac, can fetch as much as $25,000. A 1-year-old Sumatran tiger is shown licking the nose of a sibling at Taronga Zoo in Sydney Oct. 22, 2004. [Reuters]
"Commercial trade of tiger skin stemming out of female fantasy and vanity appears as a major threat to tigers in most tiger range countries," said S.C. Dey, general secretary of the Global Tiger Forum.

In Asia, tiger skins can sell for $15,000 while in Vietnam a skeleton, the bones widely believed by Asians to be an aphrodisiac, can fetch as much as $25,000.

"It is believed that about 100 years back, the global population of wild tigers was about 100,000," Dey said. "However, the population dwindled to 8,000 by 1960. Today it stands at around 5,000 to 7,000."

The forum is an inter-governmental body set up to save the surviving tigers in the wild in 14 countries including Vietnam, Myanmar, India, Russia, Nepal, China, Bangladesh and North Korea.

Dey said three out of the eight sub-species of tigers were already extinct - the Bali tiger in 1940, the Caspian tiger in the 1970s and Javan tiger in the 1980s.

Another sub-species, the South China tiger, could also soon disappear.

"Whether tigers still exist in North Korea is doubtful and debatable," he said, noting that statistics were not available.

Officials said illegal poaching of wildlife, especially in large parts of south and southeast Asia, is to blame for the reduction in the wild tiger population.

"Illegal hunting of wildlife has not been strictly controlled resulting in the severely decreased population of tigers in Vietnam," said Vietnam Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat.

The number of wild tigers in Vietnam does not exceed 150, he said.

Vietnam had clinched several agreements with neighboring countries, including China, Laos and Cambodia, to halt trans-border tiger poaching, he said.



Ice beauty Faye Wong sings in Taipei
It's a Girl, and a Boy, for Julia Roberts
Dancesport competition in Shenzhen
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

Wen: No RMB change while speculation is rife

 

   
 

25 killed, 141 still trapped in Shaanxi mine

 

   
 

16 officials in court for accident cover-up

 

   
 

Lai Changxing's limousine auctioned off

 

   
 

Ukraine opposition urges PM's ouster

 

   
 

Chirac rival Sarkozy gets French party boost

 

   
  Genetic factors influence female infidelit
   
  Sprinting hero clears up distortion in autobiography
   
  It's a Girl, and a Boy, for Julia Roberts
   
  Prince Harry 'in love' with teenage student
   
  China art show to dispel HIV women prejudice
   
  Hooters with the scantily-clad hits Shanghai
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Feature  
  HK veteran songwriter James Wong passed away at 64  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 天海翼一区二区三区四区| 青青草原免费在线| 故意打开双腿让翁公看| 嗯灬啊灬老师别揉我奶了啊灬嗯| 99国内精品久久久久久久| 欧美三级在线看| 十大最污软件下载| 91蜜桃在线观看| 探花国产精品三级在线播放| 亚洲伊人久久大香线蕉| 福利视频免费看| 国产精品亚洲va在线观看| 一区二区三区视频| 欧美性狂猛xxxxxbbbbb| 国产区女主播在线观看| 一级一级特黄女人精品毛片| 欧美日韩成人在线| 嗨动漫在线观看| 免费福利在线播放| 在线a亚洲视频播放在线观看| 中文字幕国产日韩| 日韩精品第一页| 亚洲欧美日韩第一页| 综合人妻久久一区二区精品| 国内精品自产拍在线观看| 九色国产在视频线精品视频| 美女脱了内裤张开腿让男人桶网站| 国产精品亚洲二区在线播放| jizz国产视频| 欧美精品blacked中文字幕| 国产在线精品一区二区不卡麻豆| 91精品国产色综合久久| 日韩一卡2卡3卡4卡| 免费看特黄特黄欧美大片| www.爱爱视频| 成人国产午夜在线视频| 亚洲国产精品久久网午夜| 竹菊影视国产精品| 国产xxxxxx久色视频在| 国产精品大bbwbbwbbw| 国产精品柏欣彤在线观看|