Two frozen tiger bodies confiscated in illegal trade crackdown

July 2010: Vietnam's Environmental Police have confiscated two frozen tigers and a frozen panther in the central province of Nghe An.

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VILE TRADE: A frozen tiger seized by Ha Noi Environmental Police in July 2009: the latest seizure indicates the illicit trade persists. Picture: Tran Quang Cuong / Hanoi Environmental Police

The animals, along with 5kg of suspected tiger bones, were confiscated from the home of a 53-year old man in Dien Chau district early last week. The man has been arrested.

The confiscation resulted from a co-ordinated effort between enforcement authorities, including the recently established Environmental Police. TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, commended the authorities for their diligence in enforcing Viet Nam's wildlife laws.

‘The Environmental Police have demonstrated once again their dedication to halting the illegal trade in protected species such as tigers,' said Thomas Osborn, co-ordinator of TRAFFIC's Greater Mekong Programme.

Despite their protection under Vietnamese and international law, tigers and panthers continue to be illegally hunted and traded across Vietnam and South-East Asia for their meat, as souvenirs, and for their bones, used in traditional Chinese medicine and to make tiger bone wine.

In March this year, Lao Bao Border Guard Police seized a body of a tiger and a black panther being transported across the border to be sold in Vietnam. In October 2009, Vietnam Environmental Police seized two frozen tiger carcasses weighing a total of 130kg and arrested five suspects in Ha Noi.

As few as 30 wild tigers are estimated to survive in Vietnam. ‘If we hope to save the country's remaining Tigers and other threatened species, it will take ever increasing vigilance from authorities and a strong commitment by the government to support and promote existing wildlife laws,' said Osborn.

Tigers have become a global icon for species on the brink of extinction. With only an estimated 3,200 individuals remaining worldwide, wild tigers are in danger of disappearing within a decade.

Tigers are particularly in the spotlight, as in the Chinese calendar it is the Year of the Tiger. TRAFFIC, WWF and others are working this year to secure political commitments that will double the number of tigers by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022.