Nepal warning over tiger traders
A conference on tiger conservation in Nepal has begun with a warning that traders and poachers are better organised than conservationists. The Nepalese government has sought cooperation from its neighbours for trans-border conservation efforts to save the endangered species and its natural habitat.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said that the illegal activities of traders and poachers is estimated to be worth over $10bn annually.
"That is second only to weapons and drug smuggling," Zoellick said.
His warning came as conservationists said that the worldwide population of tigers in the wild is now below 3,500.
- We need to take quick measures to protect these species from extinction, says Nepalese PM/ Photo credit: AFP
Zoellick said that poaching is the most urgent and immediate threat to tigers and that illegal trade in their body parts remains highly profitable in China and other Asian countries.
He argued that the poaching problem has now become so great that supposedly "secure" reserves across Asia have been wiped out while other species - such as Asiatic lions, snow leopards and clouded leopards have also declined significantly.
His comments were backed up by Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and conservationists who said that tigers will become extinct unless the international community unites urgently to find new strategies to ensure their survival.
Nepal told the opening of the conference – attended by 200 delegates from 20 countries – that collective action was needed to address the problem.
"Global and regional solidarity and collective strategies armed with concrete actions are more necessary now than ever," he said.
Tiger hunting is illegal worldwide and the trade in tiger parts is banned under a treaty binding 167 countries, including Nepal.
But endangered species continue to attract huge sums of money in China and elsewhere in Asia, with their body parts used in traditional medicines and aphrodisiacs while their skins are used for furniture and decoration.
Wildlife experts estimate that a single tiger trades for a maximum of about $1,000 in Nepalese markets, but can fetch at least $10,000 internationally.
Experts say that only about 3,200 tigers survive in the wild, down from 100,000 a century ago.
Nepal has sought cooperation from its neighbours, including India, for trans-border conservation efforts to save tigers and its natural habitat, even as the country grapples with smuggling of illegal wildlife products to China.
“The government is committed to conserve biodiversity of nature and strengthen trans – border cooperation with the neighbouring countries,” Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said while addressing the inaugural session of the four-day Global Tiger Workshop 2009 in the capital.
“Poaching and habitat loss are the primary problems facing the conservationists,” he said.
The Nepalese premier stressed on effective trans-order cooperation to ensure better conservation in these areas.
There has been no trans-boundary meeting between Nepal and India since 2003 at the national level, though local level meetings regularly take place to address other issues.
Around 250 scientists, tiger experts, policy makers, conservationists and government officials from 20 countries, including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Thailand, China, have gathered to find ways to protect the striped cat.
The tiger population in the wild has now declined to 3,500, which was estimated at more than 7,000 in 2000.
