Although they are on the very edge of extinction in the wild, tigers breed readily in captivity. So readily, in fact, that they are being intensively farmed.
In China, factory farms for tigers exist, supposedly as tourist attractions. In fact, their main purpose is to provide tiger parts for ineffective remedies or expensive, status-symbol concoctions, such as wine with ground tiger bone.
To satisfy this pointless trade, the tigers are kept in cramped conditions, unable to exhibit any sort of natural behaviour. They are forced to breed too often, receive little or no veterinary attention, and end up leading short, miserable lives.
Tiger farms may also increase the poaching of wild tigers as they encourage the trade in tiger parts. Killing a wild tiger is a fast way to get those parts, which are worth a fortune.
Tell the Chinese Government to ban these cruel and environmentally unsound tiger farms.
We the undersigned ask that you ban the large-scale commercial farming of tigers, which only encourages the black market in tiger parts and in turn the poaching of wild tigers.
Tigers are one of the most endangered animals in the world, with only about 3,000 in total remaining in the wild. Three subspecies are already extinct, and one subspecies, the South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensi), is probably extinct in the wild. Without proper conservation efforts, the others will be going the same way within the next few years.
China has made great efforts to save the giant panda. We hope that the country won’t allow a different but just as charismatic animal to disappear for the sake of an illegal and ethically dubious trade.
Thank you for your attention.
