Crime chiefs agree to get tough on illegal tiger trade (BBC)
By Mark Kinver
Environment reporter, BBC News
Crime chiefs from countries with populations of wild tigers have agreed to work together in order to combat the illegal trade in the big cats.
Heads of police and customs from 13 nations agreed to tighten controls and improve cross-border co-operation at a two-day meeting in Bangkok.
Only six subspecies remain, with fewer than 1,000 tigers in each group.
Smuggling of tiger parts is one of the main threats facing the planet's remaining big cats, say experts.
The seminar in Thailand's capital, organised by Interpol and hosted by the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), was attended by 26 senior crime officials and representatives from partner organisations, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17041183
Too late already ? Those numbers are too low for any real genetic diversity -- any new disease could wipe out most of the population before they could adapt. Tigers may be strictly zoo animals before much longer.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I would have thought they were police chiefs, not crime chiefs...
... are those catering to the limp dick brigade, they should apply the same
punishment for smuggling & possession of "tiger parts" as for some of the other
illegal drugs that they profess to care about: the death penalty.
Tigers are far more valuable than the humans involved in this trade (from the
killer through the transporter through the smuggler to the consumer) so let's
get serious about stopping the crime.
