The Fund for the Tiger Himalayan Natural Heritage Under Attack

An Essay by Brian K. Weirum

The news from South Asia in 2003 tells a story of increased poaching of endangered species and the active and sophisticated trade of protected wildlife.

             A Nepalese citizen was arrested at Narita Airport in Japan this past December with 7 rhino horns.  A man arrested in Chitwan confessed to killing 5 rhinos and selling the horns to the aforementioned man.  A man arrested in Chitwan in June 2003 admitted to killing 17 rhinos over the past five years.  [At least 59 rhinos are known to have been poached in the past two years at Royal Chitwan National Park.]  Two Tibetans were arrested in Chitwan with nearly $10,000 as they attempted to purchase rhino horns.  One of the Tibetans confessed to buying tiger skins previously from a man who had been arrested in Chitwan for selling 3 tiger skins and one rhino horn.  The Tibetans are from Humla in the NW corner of Nepal, directly on the trade route north into Tibet via Mt. Kailas.  It was at the Humla post office in Simikot several years ago that bags of tiger bones were discovered.  I spoke with Tibetans in Taklakot several years ago who knew of bartering tiger bones for shahtoosh.

             More proof of this illicit trade came in Kathmandu in April near the famed Swayambhu (Monkey Temple).  A man was arrested with 109 leopard skins in his truck.  He admitted being paid 50,000 rupees ($650) to deliver them to the Tibetan border.  The skins were new, showed signs of bullet holes or poisoning, but were professionally prepared for market in excellent condition with paid stamps on them.

             In April, the largest seizure ever of shahtoosh was announced in India. Shahtoosh is the ultra-chic wool made into shawls in Kashmir and comes from the underbelly of the critically endangered Tibetan antelope, the chiru.  According to the Wildlife Trust of India, the 215 kg. of wool represented the death of an estimated 3000 chiru.  This is a devastating loss for an animal whose numbers have dropped to possibly only 50,000 in the wild.  The shipment came from Dharchula in Western Nepal via Haldwani in India- directly on the route north to Mt. Kailas- home breeding ground of the chiru.  Several weeks later, the Wildlife Protection Society of India and the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation conducted a raid netting 47 shahtoosh shawls.

             On October 11, 2003, a BBC story hit the news declaring customs officials and police in Tibet had smashed the largest case of illegal fur smuggling in Tibet in more than half a century.  Over 1200 skins (32 tigers, 579 leopards, and 665 otters) were found in a truck coming from Nepal and bound for Lhasa.  The value of the haul was put at $795,000.  Two Nepalis and three Tibetans were arrested.  The animals appear to have been shot.

             It has been clear for years that Nepal lies on the smuggling route to extinction for many endangered animals and the center of this trade is Kathmandu.  Nepal’s open border with India to the south and the geographical complexities of the Himalayan mountain range to the north, make control, monitoring, and policing of this illegal trade extremely difficult.  Tiger, leopard, and rhino products head north into Tibet and on to the Far East or Middle East via Kathmandu or the isolated mountain trade routes.  Shahtoosh comes south from Western Tibet enroute to weaving centers in Kashmir

             With the possible exception of shahtoosh, there is no local market for this decimation of the natural heritage of the Himalaya.  People in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh do not believe in the efficacy of tiger bone medicine; do not believe that tiger penis soup is an aphrodisiac; do not believe that tiger and leopard claws worn as jewelry give you courage; do not believe that tiger or leopard bones worn as an amulet can bring good luck; do not believe that sitting on tiger skins can prevent fevers caused by evil spirits: and do not want to adorn their offices, dens, and fireplaces with finely tanned tiger and leopard skins.  Nor do they believe in the power of rhino horns as an aphrodisiac or value their status as a handle for their knives.  The sad truth is that animals internationally declared as protected and endangered by the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) are being slaughtered in the ‘protected’ wildlife reserves of sovereign nations to satisfy beliefs and customs of those thousands of miles away.

Brian K. Weirum

Chairman
The Fund For The Tiger

Page updated December 14, 2003

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