LettersHow China can help save the tigers in Malaysia

Malayan tigers are a symbol of power and grace. These majestic animals have seen a continual population decline to the point of near extinction. It is unthinkable that the tigers’ footprints are vanishing from our Malaysian soil, one of the very few places that they are found in the wild. Ecologists and tiger conservation groups desperately keep sounding the alarm on the need to preserve this species before time runs out.

Causes of the tiger’s decline are depressingly familiar. The culprits are the same old enemies that affect many other native species – remorseless poachers, habitat destruction and weak law enforcement. The poaching of tigers is carried out largely to satisfy the endless demand for body parts in traditional Chinese medicine.

In October, China issued a circular that eased the ban on the use of rhino horn and tiger bone, allowing its use for medical purposes, such as in traditional Chinese medicine. Fortunately, amid an outcry from animal rights advocates worldwide, the Chinese government in mid-November announced they will be delaying this move.

The global result of China sanctioning the use of tiger bone would have been devastating for the species. It would have created a huge legal market for poached animal parts that have no therapeutic value whatsoever. This would have inevitably stimulated demand and the trafficking of such products and provided ample opportunities for traffickers to sell their poached animal parts such as skin, whiskers, penis, tail, bones and claws.

In a battle between the tigers and large-scale, state-sanctioned economic interests, the animal’s fate looks perilous. Whether the tiger can survive the enormous pressures facing it depends on understanding the animal itself. With resentment harboured by many people living in close proximity, tigers are often perceived as a murderous pest rather than a treasured asset.