China's lift of tiger trade ban will affect Indian tigers:WWF

New Delhi, May 16 (UNI) The WWF today called upon the Indian government to urge China not to lift its ban on trade in tiger bone as it would lead to increase in poaching of Indian tigers.

This concern was expressed as a Chinese government delegation is in India to discuss the issue, among others.

''We hope the Indian government will communicate to the Chinese delegation how important the 14-year-old ban on tiger trade has been to the protection of tiger population in the country,'' said Mr Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO of WWF-India at a press conference here.

He said curbing poaching will remain an arduous task as long as there is a demand for the skin, bones and other body parts in the international market.

Speaking on the occasion Sujoy Banerjee, Director, Species Conservation programme, said lifting of the ban by the Chinese government will only serve to fuel the market for tiger parts, and will only encaurage poaching of tigers from the wild. ''This will certainly sound the death knell on the tigers in India,'' he stressed.

He also expressed concern that there were several tiger farms in China that house at least 4000 tigers. ''Tigers are not poultry or horses. If raised together in large numbers, they will survive but will not inculcate their natural behaviour. They cannot hunt in the forests, unlike those who live in the wild,'' he said.

He added that investors in these farms are pressurising the Government to lift the ban so as to make enormous profits.

These concerns were also echoed by the International Tiger Coalition (ITC), comprising 35 organisations.

The coalition said there should be an immediate moratorium on breeding at China's tiger farms so that the current population of captive tigers do not grow and eventually the farms should be closed.

''There are simply very few tigers in the wilds of Asia to risk reopening of trade of any kind from any source, said Belinda Wright, Executive Director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), a coalition member. ''We dare not risk an entire species for the financial gain of a handful of investors,'' she added.

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