How many of you (who are reading this, that is) have ever read an article about an animal species who is currently being threatened by the black market? Whose body parts are so valued in a culture that there are those who, for money, go out and illegally kill or capture these animal to be sold and--in some cases--eaten due to a rumor that they can heal. These animals are taken from reserves, and in one case, a zoo.
I first came across an image in the December 2011 issue of the National Geographic magazine, of a young child holding a photo of a tiger. In the background was what looked like an animal enclosure, covered in caution tape. Underneath the image was this caption: "A zoo cage is no haven for a creature whose body parts are prized in the illegal trade. Dara Arista, eight, holds a photo a Sheila in front of her cage at the zoo in Jambi, Indonesia. Poachers had slaughtered the tiger during the night." I decided to find more information-- to think that a poacher would have the nerve to take a tiger from a zoo! (Then again, if tiger numbers are dwindling due to illegal trade, where else would they go to find the resources for their unlawful economy?) I looked at two different articles- both confirming each other's story. Sheila had been poisoned, then skinned right there in her enclosure. The poachers had taken all of her body to sell, except for a few ribs and her intestines. Even Sheila's blood had been collected. Apparently, the poachers had gotten into the zoo through a gutter--you already know what happened after that. One of the articles was from 2009, but it wasn't until the 2011 issue came out that I first saw this image. In fact, I had been rereading the main tiger article in this issue to find information for this blog when I found the image and decided to pursue more information.
A reader might wonder what is being done to prevent this, and how effective that is. Well, there are of course penalties for the poaching of tigers, but they may not be that effective. For instance, in 2009, two men convicted of poaching in Thailand did receive prison sentences, but one (a Vietnamese citizen) only received four years in prison, while the other (a Thai national) received five years in prison, which--believe it or not-- is the most severe punishment ever given in Thailand for poaching. Of course, with this statistic, it seems that it is no wonder poaching has not ended; the punishment is not strict enough. And not just with tiger poaching, either, other species are at risk as well (but more on that later).
Fortunately, there are efforts being made to raise awareness and lower the demand for these animals. TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade network, has several campaign focused on the souvenir trade, hoping that it will raise the awareness about the goods they are purchasing. There are two videos on their website that captures my attention- I will include the link. Both are meant to raise awareness--one features the evolution of the tiger, ending at the use of its body that threatens it (a similar thing was done in poster format for other species), the other video is supposed to encourage responsibility when it comes to buying souvenirs. This second video is slightly graphic, so I don't recommend little kids watching it.
Thanks for reading this post, and I will try to update my blog later!
--Skyepika
Links:
http://www.traffic.org/campaigns/ This link goes to the TRAFFIC website's Awareness campaigns page, which includes all of their campaign efforts. You can find both videos here, too.
Sources:
Alexander, Caroline. "A Cry for the Tiger." National Geographic Dec. 2011: 62-87. Print.
Hance, Jeremy. "Tiger brutally killed in zoo, body parts taken to sell for Chinese medicine." mongabay.com. N.p., n.d. 25 Aug. 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.
Cota-Larson, Rhisha. "Tiger Killed, Skinned Inside Indonesian Zoo." ecolocalizer.com. N.p., 24 Aug. 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.
Robinson, David. "Tiger Poachers Get Stiff Sentences." nationalgeographic.com. N.p., 9 Mar. 2012. Web. 18 Apr. 2012.
traffic.org. TRAFFIC, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2012.
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