Fury after China reverses 25-year-old tiger bone and rhino horn ban
The international trade has been banned since 1990, but China and other countries had allowed domestic trade, which critics said created a market.
ABIGAIL O’LEARY: ‘China has announced it will legalise domestic trade in antique tiger bone and rhino horn – reversing a 25-year-old ban. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) announced their “profound concern” over the changes in the law, which would allow bone and horn products to be traded and used from captive bred animals… The international trade has been banned since 1990… But China and other countries had allowed domestic trade, which critics said created a market. Both tiger bone and rhino horn were removed from the traditional Chinese medicine pharmacopeia in 1993.
Margaret Kinnaird, WWF Wildlife Practice Leader said:… “The resumption of a legal market for these products is an enormous setback to efforts to protect tigers and rhinos in the wild. China’s experience with the domestic ivory trade has clearly shown the difficulties of trying to control parallel legal and illegal markets for ivory. Not only could this lead to the risk of legal trade providing cover to illegal trade, this policy will also stimulate demand that had otherwise declined since the ban was put in place”.’ SOURCE…
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