Poor tiger criminals

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38767619@N05/3580319652/

In November an interesting case was put forward involving two dead tigers in a freezer at a tiger farm in Thanh Hoa province. The owner of the farm is the same “farmer” that
has been linked to several major seizures of frozen tigers in Hanoi in recent years, and is also the same man who has been arrested once before trying to smuggle wildlife from Tanzania. It should be further noted that this farmer obtained all of his original tigers illegally from the trade in direct violation of the law.

However, the Thanh Hoa tiger farmer appears to have gained the sympathy of provincial authorities according to interviews in the press. Rather than simply applying the law, authorities reportedly ponder whether the “poor farmer” should be compensated for his dead tigers.

Are we expected to feel sorry for the rich illegal tiger farmer (businessman) for the expenses he has incurred raising tigers that he should not have in the first place? Would not selling tigers or their parts violate the ban on the commercial trade of fully protected species like tigers?

In fact, such a sale would violate the law and would undermine Vietnam's international commitment to protect tigers, reinforced during the November tiger summit in St. Petersburg, where range state leaders and senior government officials met and reaffirmed their commitment to protecting the world's last tigers.

ENV joins most of the Vietnamese law enforcement community in strictly opposing the sale of tigers, their parts and products, whether confiscated from trade or originating at farms. Opening the door to commercial trade of tigers and their products will undermine law enforcement efforts, and permit people like the Thanh Hoa tiger farmer to generate income from both his captive tigers and those potentially smuggled through his farm into the trade.

Back in 2007, two dead tigers discovered at this same Thanh Hoa farm were publicly incinerated following a decision by provincial authorities. The incineration of the remains of these tigers eliminated any possibility of the farmer profiting from the death of his tigers.

More recently in Nghe An, provincial authorities demonstrated leadership in efforts to stop illegal tiger trade in a case involving the confiscation of one frozen tiger, tiger


To read the rest of this report from the "Education for Nature - Vietnam" along with other interesting articles please click HERE

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