Police in Hanoi, Vietnam, have arrested a man with a tiger skeleton in his car. The person, arrested on a tip-off, was a known dealer in tiger parts and was on his way to sell the bones for use in traditional oriental medicines. Even though there is no scientific evidence to indicate that animal parts have any therapeutic value, tigers continue to be poached every year in many parts of the world for this purpose. Apparently one kilogram of tiger bone paste sells in the range of eight hundred to one thousand US dollars, thus making trade in tiger parts a very profitable business for the impoverished people in many parts where man and tiger coexist.
What is incredible in this report is that the tiger skeleton in the vehicle weighed around thirty six kilograms, leading the authorities to believe that the poached tiger would've weighed nearly four hundred kilograms! This is quite unusual for the Indochinese tigers in that part of the world who seldom weigh beyond two hundred kilograms. This particular animal would obviously have been a very large and magnificent specimen and it's such a pity that he was shot by a gun, and not by a camera!
There was no sound; he gave no cry,
The careless stars looked on serene
The jungle's sudden tragedy
Remained unheard, unknown, unseen
Lawrence Hope
2 comments:
This is so sad...there's got to be better ways to help people in impoverished areas make money without killing tigers...
I agree with purrprints. This is a terrible way to make money. It's so sad that such a magnificent tiger was killed basically to feed a superstition.
Post a Comment