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Thy Fearful Cemetery

Death decor and catskin fashion in China spurs India's tiger genocide

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Thy Fearful Cemetery
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The Tiger Skin Trail
Panthera tigris
Panthera pardus
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To neutralise the Tibetan threat, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has just adopted a softer approach. This month, they and other conservation organisations coopted the Dalai Lama into the campaign to stop wildlife trade. Says Ashok Kumar, senior advisor, WTI, "Enforcement is not working. Some Tibetans in India are engaged in this trade, others out of loyalty don't rat on them. This spiritual appeal might work." On April 6, in Delhi, the Dalai Lama addressed Tibetan community leaders, professionals and students invoking the mahakaruna of Tibetan Buddhists.

While ayurvedic medicines are mainly derived from plants and herbs, traditional Chinese medicine specifies use of tiger parts. In the '70s, while India created Project Tiger and the Wildlife Protection Act to save Panthera tigris, China, in the throes of its its Cultural Revolution, was destroying tigers. "They were perceived as a sign of the decadent feudal order and a threat to agriculture," says environmental historian Mahesh Rangarajan. Besides, there's little demand for tiger skins in India other than from tantric sadhus. Finally, China only has about 50 wild tigers while India is home to half of the world's wild tigers.

India was hit by tiger demand in the mid-'80s after China ran out of the tiger in the '70s. Says Wright, "India's tiger cemeteries were being dug up in the '80s. It was a huge 400-kg tiger bone haul in the '90s that blew the lid off the trade." China banned tiger bone trade in '96. But the trade just went underground, using established routes and Tibetan traders. That bone transfer still continues.

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What's new is the volume of skin being trafficked. A changing Tibet has brought changed demand. "Mercedes and BMWs are cruising the streets of Lhasa, as prosperous people with disposable incomes move in, and as traditional festivals designed to entertain increasing tourist inflow require costumes designed with tiger skins," according to EIA's sources. Which means every time a tiger goes missing in India, perhaps a tailor gets busy in Tibet.

Detailing the impact of these big tiger and leopard skin hauls, senior wildlife biologist Raghunandan Singh Chundawat says, "Every seizure of 30-40 skins means we're minus one national park population." Using science and field realities, he says most of India's tigers are divided into tiny populations. Right now, extinction processes are acting on all these populations simultaneously. Indian priorities depend on how we count tigers. As live or dead.Valmik Thapar, member of the PM's recently formed Tiger Task Force, accuses Indian officials of denying poaching and "waving pugmarks like fishmongers".

"If India is a key supply source then it's our duty to cut off supply," asserts senior ecologist Ulhas Karanth of the Wildlife Conservation Society. The only scientifically robust way to monitor key tiger breeding populations is with camera traps sampling. Says Karanth, "Camera trap photos are also valuable forensic tools, which can be used when skin seizures take place. So, authorities can trace the origin of poached tigers and fix protection failures."

Till 2002, the global agency conducting research on wildlife trade originating in India was TRAFFIC. The largest international monitoring body, its India office opened in 1991—spurring seizures of everything from turtles to tigers. In 2002, TRAFFIC Delhi was wound down to reopen as TRAFFIC South Asia's regional office. But due to bizarre politics, this office has just opened in Colombo, Sri Lanka. A country out of the illicit trade loop.

Says Kumar, former founder-director, TRAFFIC India, "With TRAFFIC moving out of India, the advantage will only be to the wildlife traders." Wright asserts wildlife crime is most acute in India: "So TRAFFIC can't be effective from Sri Lanka." Only WWF India's Ravi Singh is optimistic. Since TRAFFIC is run through WWF, he believes they'll open offices in Delhi and the field. Question is: How soon?

The need of the minute is cross-border communication and specialised enforcement units with powers to combat transnational criminal networks. China is feared by every other country for its chicanery. "But EIA's experience is that it acts when given information," says Banks.

On our part, Thapar warns: "We have to move fast, before the monsoon, when it's poaching prime-time." There is new hope. Eleven MPs, led by Jyotiraditya Scindia, have set up the Tiger and Wilderness Watch, committed to preventing poaching by increasing patrolling and other measures. The CITES Tiger Task Force meeting on May 17 will provide intelligence reports to China's enforcement authorities. Hopefully, they'll swoop down upon wildlife criminals in Tibet, Qinghai and Xinjiang. For none of China's cutprice manufacturers can ever recreate the magnificence of India's wild leopards and tigers.

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Pramila N. Phatarphekar with Pallavi Aiyar in Beijing

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