24 November 2022
The illegal trade in tigers, tiger parts, and their derivatives drives the poaching of wild tigers and undermines enforcement and conservation efforts throughout their range. This is heightened by the continued existence, and even growth, of tiger farms – facilities that breed captive tigers and function as a source for the trade in tigers and their parts and products.
Tiger and other wildlife trafficking is facilitated by corruption, weak or poorly implemented laws, inadequately capacitated law enforcement, and a lack of political will, among other things.
2022 is the Lunar Year of the Tiger, offering a renewed opportunity for increased focus by Tiger Range Countries, who are expected to commit to needed conservation actions for the new Global Tiger Recovery Programme, and to build political momentum behind tiger conservation as a whole.
To support this, a range of organisations, including the Wildlife Justice Commission, WWF, TRAFFIC, the Environmental Investigation Agency, Fauna and Flora International, and TRACE, have developed a Framework setting out a range of measures and resources that governments of tiger range countries can use to effectively address the illegal trade in tigers and their parts and products, both from wild and captive sources.
This comprehensive toolkit draws on lessons from wildlife trafficking investigations, as well as efforts to tackle other forms of serious and organised crime, including drug, arms, and human trafficking.
The Framework identifies four areas where targeted action can make the greatest difference:
- Laws and policies: Strong, clear laws and policies are imperative to effectively address the illegal trade in tigers and their parts and derivatives.
- Criminal justice system capacity: An effective criminal justice response to tiger trafficking requires adequate enforcement powers for law enforcement agencies tasked with fighting wildlife crime, sufficient resources, and expertise, and the integrity of law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges.
- Cooperation: Tiger trafficking is a networked, associative, transboundary crime, requiring multidisciplinary and multi-jurisdictional interventions. National, inter-agency, regional, and international cooperation is therefor crucial to tackling tiger trafficking.
- Private sector engagement: Engaging the private sector to support government efforts to tackle tiger trafficking would encourage political will, facilitate intelligence gathering and sharing, and help identify novel approaches to solving complex problems in tiger trafficking.
The Framework provides governments and other stakeholders with a practical basis to strengthen their response in tackling tiger trafficking and effectively disrupt the conditions that allow this crime to flourish.
