China’s announcement (29 October 2018) has set in motion potentially even more parallel markets for legal and illegal sources to supply Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) – with China reportedly legalising the use of tiger bone and rhino horn from ‘captive bred animals’ by hospitals (despite no proven efficacy in the TCM ‘potions’ so created) and reinstating a domestic trade in ‘antique’ tiger and rhino products – where will the proof of compliance come from, or will it just be conveniently overlooked in the stampede to profit?
However, China now seeks to reinstate ‘legal’ markets for tiger and rhino derivative products – a retrograde step just when pressure to shut down China’s domestic ivory markets (TRAFFIC, September 2018) is making tentative headway (but with China’s demand seemingly offshored via Vietnam and Laos).
“Lion farming may increase in consumer countries, and some South African farmers appear willing to export live lions to these countries which would help establish/increase farming. As live lions are not explicitly detailed in the CITES listing-annotation it is not clear how this will be addressed, although the South African CITES Scientific Authority is treating permit applications for live lions with caution in case they are acting as a proxy for skeleton exports” – SC70, Doc. 54.1, page 12, para 4 – Note: There is no quota on the live export of lions from South Africa, so the South African Scientific Authority’s reported “caution” could evaporate if commercial incentives take priority.
There is no reason not to suspect China will increasingly farm lions, leopards, rhino, pangolin etc. in country to feed China’s despicable consumptive needs, plus funding and exploiting wildlife farming practices in Africa, which seem only too willing to find ways to circumvent any notion of international over-sight to cash-in on China’s dubious appetites.
China’s blatant disregard for international norms needs to be met with a coherent response and rebuke on the international stage – condemning China’s promotion of TCM (legitimising potions that use wildlife parts and derivatives, but are of no proven efficacy whatsoever), thus stimulating demand and threatening a devastating spike in the poaching of endangered species to profit – not to mention a potential explosion in abhorrent, cruel and intensive wildlife farming practices.