End the Illegal Trade in Tiger Organs
The illegal trade in exotic animals is second only to the drug trade in the U.S. With tigers, it takes two forms.
Trophy Parts - Status Symbols or Good Luck Charms
A live adult tiger can be purchased for $200 in America. Tiger skins can be found on Craigslist for between $5,000 and $10,000. The tiger's head, paws, skin, claws, teeth, eyes, and other parts, as well as the meat, are sold into the black market.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
The renewed interest in TCM, which uses tiger parts for their medicinal properties, is considered an alternative to Western medicine.
Asian medicine or folk remedies containing tiger parts are believed to cure acne, epilepsy, laziness, meningitis, rheumatic fever, arthritis, headache, leprosy, paralysis, skin disease, back pain, impotence, malaria, snake bite, and toothache. The powdered humerus bone of a tiger sells for $1,450 a pound, and people believe it can cure ulcers and rheumatism. The full retail value of a complete tiger bone set in the TCM market can be over $50,000.
Ten million people in this country believe in the medicinal value of tiger organs. It is difficult for us to make the case in the international community to stop selling tiger parts when the U.S. is second only to China in this trade.
