Are tiger farms bad? If we stand back and just get a gut feel for this question, a lot (a majority, I would say) of us would think tiger farms are hideous. How can we take the most popular wild animal in the world and farm it!? How can we turn such a proud and precious animal into farm livestock? It sounds disgusting. "To me it is disgusting," Valmik Thapar (a prominent conservationist) thunders. "It's not civil to have tiger farms; it's not part of anyone's dream." (I have quoted Mr Thapar and I am sure he will allow it).
But if we put away all sentiment it could be argued that tiger farms are a good idea at least on first impressions.
Farms like these are selling tiger bone wine and other products. The photograph (which I have selectively cropped), is by International Tiger Coalition. People are free to use this image on condition that they provide a credit. I can feel the stress these tigers are feeling cooped up like this, wholly unnaturally.
If the tiger has been poached to extinction (nearly) or its habitat and prey eroded to the point where it shares land with people to the demise of the tiger and a few people, then tiger farms are one way, on the face of it, to reduce poaching and preserve this big cat in the wild. And the unsentimental will say, "what is the difference between a tiger and a rabbit?" Both are wild animals and both are used for the pleasure of mankind, in one way or another. So why aren't we shouting from the rooftops about the rabbit or the horse, which is eaten by some people.
The reason why a gut feel is, in fact, the right feel is because tiger farms are a complete fraud and a sham. If they are meant to be a means to help preserve the wild tiger, they don't work. It is even more basic than that, it is simply about money, nothing else, making money from tigers in a cruel and uncaring way.
One reason why they are a sham, and dangerous to the wild tiger and not a benefit to them, is because the people who own and run these farms are lobbying the authorities (presumed CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) to allow tiger parts from the farms to be traded (in breach of CITES currently). If that is allowed, it is argued that, the trade in tiger parts will be encouraged and expanded and muddied up at a time when it is most critical and important for there to be a tightening up of CITES restrictions and not a loosening up.
Tiger Farms - Photo by International Tiger Coalition and thanks to Big Cat Rescue for showing these pictures on their website.
Here are some other reasons why tiger farms are bad:
Tiger Farms - Photo by International Tiger Coalition (cropped)
Yes I know we are disgusted by this image, those of us who have retained a sense of what is right. What you are looking at is the most popular wild animal in the world reduced to trash and meat, chilled flesh and bone, bereft of dignity. The owner of this farm was keeping what was left of the tiger bodies (you can see one has been skinned) until it becomes legal to trade in body parts. And CITES had asked, formally, China to investigate illegal sales of tiger meat at the Guilin farm. What is CITES doing asking China to investigate? This is preposterous. It is like asking the police to investigate an assault perpetrated by an officer on duty. Do we ever get a result from such an investigation? No. It is like the kind of investigation carried out by the Financial Securities Agency (FSA) in the UK (charged with monitoring the bankers) in investigating financial frauds -- forget it. It does not work. There is not enough independent and neutral control and management.
And it really is about attitude. I have yet to see someone talk about the attitude of people who find doing what is illustrated normal and acceptable. Surely this is at the root of the problem. Some people (sadly a lot of these people are in an area which is near where the tiger's habitat is) just find it acceptable to treat tigers as livestock. Actually, it is worse than that, you wouldn't treat livestock in some countries as the tiger is treated on tiger farms. I am sure that if a health and safety official visited a farm in the UK and found cattle lying around like these dead and mutilated tigers, he or she would make a formal complaint. So I conclude that the Chinese people involved in this business (not all Chinese please note - I don't want someone saying that I am racist, I am not) think of tigers as livestock on a farm. Many millions of people in the west think of tigers differently. And allowing tigers to be farmed will simply perpetuate this outdated and outmoded attitude.
The only long term answer is to educate and change attitudes and that will require the agreement of the Chinese government. To get their agreement there has to be a financial reward. The loss of the tiger in the wild is a world problem. The tiger belongs to the world and the world must find a way to save this animal.
The overriding problem, though, is that the majority of the people of the world do not know about this or if they do, they don't care sufficiently. How many people know about tiger farms? How many people ask whether tiger farms are bad? Lets guess, 2 million in the world. That represents 0.033 percent of the world's population, an infinitesimal amount and of no consequence. People generally, globally simply do not know or care enough to change things. And I am not being critical. It is just human nature.
It is shocking to realize that, "The 171 member nations of CITES made it clear last month that ‘tigers should not be bred for their parts and derivatives.'” The Chinese tiger part dealers are particularly bothered about this statement, are they? No. Some say that the Chinese have banned (in line with CITES) tiger body parts, but I for one don't believe it. The body parts of wild tigers are still being traded because no one is enforcing the CITES ban and there is too much money in the trade, which becomes more valuable as the tiger becomes rarer. Another factor: it costs 250 times more to raise a tiger in captivity than it does to poach a wild tiger. Killing wild tigers is more economically viable.
Tiger Farms - Photo by International Tiger Coalition
OK, what else is bad about tiger farms?:
Tiger Farms - Save me please - Photo by International Tiger Coalition.
On the basis, as mentioned, that the tiger belongs to the world (and not humans) and its extinction in the wild is a world problem, I suggest this as a solution to the tiger farms problem:
Are Tiger Farms Bad? to Bengal Tiger Facts
But if we put away all sentiment it could be argued that tiger farms are a good idea at least on first impressions.
Farms like these are selling tiger bone wine and other products. The photograph (which I have selectively cropped), is by International Tiger Coalition. People are free to use this image on condition that they provide a credit. I can feel the stress these tigers are feeling cooped up like this, wholly unnaturally.
If the tiger has been poached to extinction (nearly) or its habitat and prey eroded to the point where it shares land with people to the demise of the tiger and a few people, then tiger farms are one way, on the face of it, to reduce poaching and preserve this big cat in the wild. And the unsentimental will say, "what is the difference between a tiger and a rabbit?" Both are wild animals and both are used for the pleasure of mankind, in one way or another. So why aren't we shouting from the rooftops about the rabbit or the horse, which is eaten by some people.
The reason why a gut feel is, in fact, the right feel is because tiger farms are a complete fraud and a sham. If they are meant to be a means to help preserve the wild tiger, they don't work. It is even more basic than that, it is simply about money, nothing else, making money from tigers in a cruel and uncaring way.
One reason why they are a sham, and dangerous to the wild tiger and not a benefit to them, is because the people who own and run these farms are lobbying the authorities (presumed CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) to allow tiger parts from the farms to be traded (in breach of CITES currently). If that is allowed, it is argued that, the trade in tiger parts will be encouraged and expanded and muddied up at a time when it is most critical and important for there to be a tightening up of CITES restrictions and not a loosening up.
Tiger Farms - Photo by International Tiger Coalition and thanks to Big Cat Rescue for showing these pictures on their website.
Here are some other reasons why tiger farms are bad:
- 5,000 live tigers are kept on tiger farms in China. There are about 4,000 (the figure is not certain) in the wild and 12,000 in the USA as "pets". The photograph below shows us how these farm tigers are treated at the end of their lives in very limited captivity:
Tiger Farms - Photo by International Tiger Coalition (cropped)
Yes I know we are disgusted by this image, those of us who have retained a sense of what is right. What you are looking at is the most popular wild animal in the world reduced to trash and meat, chilled flesh and bone, bereft of dignity. The owner of this farm was keeping what was left of the tiger bodies (you can see one has been skinned) until it becomes legal to trade in body parts. And CITES had asked, formally, China to investigate illegal sales of tiger meat at the Guilin farm. What is CITES doing asking China to investigate? This is preposterous. It is like asking the police to investigate an assault perpetrated by an officer on duty. Do we ever get a result from such an investigation? No. It is like the kind of investigation carried out by the Financial Securities Agency (FSA) in the UK (charged with monitoring the bankers) in investigating financial frauds -- forget it. It does not work. There is not enough independent and neutral control and management.
And it really is about attitude. I have yet to see someone talk about the attitude of people who find doing what is illustrated normal and acceptable. Surely this is at the root of the problem. Some people (sadly a lot of these people are in an area which is near where the tiger's habitat is) just find it acceptable to treat tigers as livestock. Actually, it is worse than that, you wouldn't treat livestock in some countries as the tiger is treated on tiger farms. I am sure that if a health and safety official visited a farm in the UK and found cattle lying around like these dead and mutilated tigers, he or she would make a formal complaint. So I conclude that the Chinese people involved in this business (not all Chinese please note - I don't want someone saying that I am racist, I am not) think of tigers as livestock on a farm. Many millions of people in the west think of tigers differently. And allowing tigers to be farmed will simply perpetuate this outdated and outmoded attitude.
The only long term answer is to educate and change attitudes and that will require the agreement of the Chinese government. To get their agreement there has to be a financial reward. The loss of the tiger in the wild is a world problem. The tiger belongs to the world and the world must find a way to save this animal.
The overriding problem, though, is that the majority of the people of the world do not know about this or if they do, they don't care sufficiently. How many people know about tiger farms? How many people ask whether tiger farms are bad? Lets guess, 2 million in the world. That represents 0.033 percent of the world's population, an infinitesimal amount and of no consequence. People generally, globally simply do not know or care enough to change things. And I am not being critical. It is just human nature.
It is shocking to realize that, "The 171 member nations of CITES made it clear last month that ‘tigers should not be bred for their parts and derivatives.'” The Chinese tiger part dealers are particularly bothered about this statement, are they? No. Some say that the Chinese have banned (in line with CITES) tiger body parts, but I for one don't believe it. The body parts of wild tigers are still being traded because no one is enforcing the CITES ban and there is too much money in the trade, which becomes more valuable as the tiger becomes rarer. Another factor: it costs 250 times more to raise a tiger in captivity than it does to poach a wild tiger. Killing wild tigers is more economically viable.
Tiger Farms - Photo by International Tiger Coalition
OK, what else is bad about tiger farms?:
- Chinese tiger farmers say they are making a loss. This is because of the 14-year ban on domestic and international trade in tiger body parts. They want to open trade again. Question: how have they stayed in business for 14 years if they are making a loss? And if they started up within the past 14 years why did they go into the business if it was loss making. We don't believe this kind of comment do we?
- Look at the pictures of the tigers waiting to be killed for their body parts. How do you think they feel? They are very static, very hot. They live in very small spaces. A tigers natural home range is 7-58 square miles - src: http://www.seaworld.org. This is torture waiting for (probably) a brutal death to be cut up and parts sold for the ridiculous Chinese medicine market. Why people in this day and age harbour medieval thoughts that a bit of a tiger can cure you of an illness is beyond me.
- Apparently the owners of these farms show compassion for people who come to the tiger farms seeking and pleading to buy tiger bone to cure rheumatism. The tiger farm owners say they must reluctantly turn them away because of the restriction on trade. I guess the tiger farm owners don't tell them that tiger bone does not cure rheumatism and that it is all hocus pocus.
- There is no need for original animal body parts in Chinese medicine. There are effective (probably far more effective than the tiger part which cannot be effective at all) substitutes. There is no need to treat tigers like this.
- The farms sell tiger bone wine and tiger meat even. This is hideous and has nothing to do with conservation of the tiger, it is plain callous commercialization of an highly endangered animal.
Tiger Farms - Save me please - Photo by International Tiger Coalition.
On the basis, as mentioned, that the tiger belongs to the world (and not humans) and its extinction in the wild is a world problem, I suggest this as a solution to the tiger farms problem:
- Provide China with some sort of political incentive to close tiger farms. America is talking to China currently on economic matters, why can't the tiger be brought into the discussions?
- The major nations of the world pool resources, including China, to recompense those businesses who are involved in the tiger body parts trade when the trade is shut down. The Chinese must shut this trade down but to make it palatable there has to be compensation.
- In tandem with this there should be a nationwide program of education in China initially on alternatives to ingredients to Chinese medicine along the lines promulgated in the west. There are effective substitutes for all the tiger body parts that are used in "medicine".
- As to skins etc. there is no short cut here. The traders should be compensated and retrained once trade is banned with proper enforcement. There is arguably a need for a world enforcement team along the lines of the UN.
Are Tiger Farms Bad? to Bengal Tiger Facts
Comments
You are a very smart 13 year old! But don't go to China to kill people. Try and put pressure on them. Start a Blog like mine and talk about it. Take care MMAADD.
Michael AKA Freddie (the person who wrote the article)
Sure I'd like to see them taken care of better, but the animals I mentioned above are sometimes not raised to great either, but we don't ban them.
Personally, I think we need to keep our nose's out of other countries when it comes to which animals they like to farm and eat.
If people from India said they were offended at the countries eating beef and wearing leather, would we stop doing it? Should we?
And MMAADD, please go see a counselor.
Firstly the tiger belongs to the world. The tiger has no country boundaries. The tiger is the world's favorite animal. This gives me and others the right to discuss and criticise where appropriate even though we are not living in the country concerned. There are so few tigers left that all peoples should be involved.
I thought I explained why it is wrong to farm the tiger in the article. The other animals are breed as livestock. Thy have been livestock, farm animals, for centuries. People are omnivores so we like to eat meat. Farm animals are created and managed to keep us alive.
Tigers are wild animals. They grace the world as one of the world's most impressive and beautiful wild animals. They have never been farm animals, domesticated, until the Chinese created tiger farms.
And they are not bred to supply food for survival but body parts for bogus medicinal purposes.
Also, it seems, they are on occasion, treated less well than livestock (look at the pictures).
For these reasons tiger farms are hideous. They are wrong. And above all they "feel" wrong to us all. We don't actually need to produce arguments.
It doesn't feel wrong to me. Like I said, it probably feels "wrong" to many, many people in India that we slaughter cattle.
An animal is an animal. They all feel pain. If its okay to breed ungulates and slaughter them by the billions, then its okay to breed and kill tigers.
Would it be acceptable if they bred tigers until they were deformed and not fit to survive in the wild like we have done to chicken and cattle?
They have all their instincts like a tiger, its just that they are unable to live out in the wild due to selectively breeding them to be fat and unfit/deformed so we can manage them better.
Even "domestic" animals raised away from humans become feral. Go try to pet a feral cat that has had no human contact; they're just as vicious as wild cats in Africa.
And saying its okay to kill some animals but not others because of their beauty is moronic. According to that logic if people think Neopolitan Mastiffs are hideous that means its okay to kill them, but not a German Shepherd because they "look pretty."
I personally think many pheasants and breeds of chicken have incredibly beautiful plumage and color, but I'd never say its not okay for people to eat them because they're "too pretty."
Face it, even if these animals were being bred and killed primarily for their meat, you'd still be against it.
Try not being so ethnocentric.
Some subspecies have already gone extinct, such as the Balinese and Javan Tigers. The Caspian Tiger may not be extinct after all; a recent genetic study shows that Caspian Tigers are practically the same genetic species as Amur (Siberian) Tigers. Amur Tigers themselves once numbered under 50 in the wild, with current estimates at only 450 to 550.
It's not a matter of "They're pretty, let's not kill them!" It's a matter of "We shouldn't let these wild creatures go extinct!"
The problem with "farms" and the sanctioned captive breeding programs done by zoos, is that the tigers born in it are UNABLE to be released into the wild. They lack fear of humans, the ability to hunt to feed themselves and the knowledge of the wild territory. So, no, captive bred (or "farmed") tigers do NOT have their natural tiger instincts.
I’d like to point out a serious question: Where did the “farms” received their tigers to begin with? There is a 2007 report that states 5 tigresses were killed and their 3 cubs were stolen. That scenario most likely answers the question. “Farms” probably stole cubs from the wild after illegally poaching the mothers.
There would be a ban on killing chickens if their worldwide numbers fell to only 550. There would probably be a ban on stealing eggs from wild chickens to “farm” them too!
Cows, chicken and other domesticated livestock are NOT endangered so you can't truly compare them with tigers.
On a final note, I’d like to address MMAADD and anyone else lurking about.
Killing people would do more harm than good. Instead of helping tigers, you would just get yourself into trouble. Didn’t your parents ever tell you the cliché, “Use your words, not your fists.”? Violence only leads to more violence.
Raising awareness, passing laws, enforcing regulations, brainstorming solutions for the issues… these are the paths to take. This blog is an example of raising awareness.
You can start small: write an essay or a speech for school about endangered animals, poaching, WCS, WWF, the ban on tiger parts and how it has impacted Asia, et cetera. See if there is a way to start a fundraiser at school for the WCS, WWF or other notable organization. Find a way to make it “real” for your classmates, at that age the world tends to revolve around school and not the entire planet. Does your school have an animal mascot? You could push to “sponsor” an actual version of your mascot; endangered or not.
And no one can make them change. Look at the climate change meeting recently that was scuppered by China.
They just plough on in their own sweet (or sour) way disregarding every criticism and as they are very powerful economically they can get away with it.
If the world imposed some sort of economic sanctions it would hurt them but the world needs China for its cheap manufacturing.
It comes down to money and all wild animals are being destroyed little by little for commercial reasons.
I wish you well in your desire to help them.
Art:have the students draw pictures of tigers to hang throughout the school
Foriegn language:Write a list of different tiger traits/reasons to save them in a different language, Have them write them large and illustrate them, then post them around the school
Other Classes: give the teachers a list of several informative youtube video and a worksheet to correlate with it
Core Classes(English, Science, History/Geography): there is a couple of good teaching plans on these pages http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/lessons/tiger/b.html#ext
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/1999/10/12/Wild-Wildlife/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geoguide/tigers/av/tigers.pdf
http://www.savethetigerfund.org/Content/NavigationMenu2/TakeAction/TeacherResources/TigerColoringfactsheet.pdf
Some really great youtube videos include:
this 20/20 clip it shows the negative approach(they are for tiger farming)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6wEX1HTPAQ
An insider of what really goes on in tiger farms(permission slip may be needed, kind of gruesome)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CGXWe5W0KU&feature=player_embedded
An inspiration to stop tiger traffiking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG3-rSQH7pA&feature=player_embedded
a cool animated thingy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNHori-y8vg
and more if you look hard enough
I hope to do this and more, if I can convince the principal at my school.
I hope this helps!
Can I make your comment into a visitor's page on my site:
Pictures of Cats.org
I think what you say would make a nice visitor's submission on the tiger page:
www.pictures-of-cats.org/Tiger.html
The form for visitor's is at the base of the page:
www.pictures-of-cats.org/Tiger.html#Form
And it would help the tiger. What you say is very sensible and it may help other young people change their views for the better.
Many thanks indeed. Please come back. Shout about it. Kick up some dust. Make a noise...! :)
My sites are for people like you to use.
Farm animals are livestock. They are bred to feed us and killed under carefully controlled and human conditions.
Lions and tigers are rare wild animals. They belong to the world. They should share the world with us and they should not be bred for canned hunts or farmed.
There is a clear distinction. Tiger were not made for this treatment. And, yes, the west is just as bad as the east. America has some appalling practices. There are far more tigers in the US than the rest of the world, captive and wild combined.
And all the US tigers are banged up! Horrible. Check out:
http://cat-chitchat.pictures-of-cats.org/2009/03/tiger-truck-stop-in-grosse-tete-la.html
I didn't know about tiger farms until i read this article, so i am very glad that i read it so i can help raise awareness about this problem
Tigers are wonderful, awe-inspiring creatures that we have a duty to protect, not only for ourselves, but for future generations as well
Many people still don't think that animals feel pain and many treat animals cruelly.
This is not a nice world. The more you know about the world the less nice it looks.
China also lends money to many other bankrupt countries - another reason why they keep friendly with China. China is dangerous to the world. It is now devouring/using Africa for minerals.
All the while it is killing wildlife to fed its ridiculous medicine.
Shark fin soup is another tragedy with 80 million sharks killed annually I believe mostly for this "delicacy" The species is being wiped out.
It's also important to know that people are suffering because of this belief that tiger parts will cure them. Tiger parts can be cheap and someone desperate might save a large sum of money to spend on tiger parts that won't cure them when that money could be spent on real medicine that might actually help. Governments that want to allow this type of thing should think about their people, not about money.
As for the "wine", that's mindless self-indulgence and not much can be done about stupid people, except to regulate it.
Not to pick on China but the tiger has been a symbol of Chinese power, a symbol of national pride with is rising and growing economy. You think that would be enough incentive for China to protect it. Though, I believe the Chinese tiger exists only in captivity. They're probably breeding other subspecies in the farms.
I'm not sure why not much had been done on the issue of animal and even human rights in China. I guess the US hasn't pressured China so much on these issues because there's no really way it can punish them. America is too reliant on trade with China. If the US tells them, we think what you're doing is wrong, what reason does China have to listen?
I don't know...this is so frustrating. Thanks Holly for your post. It doesn't make me feel so helpless.
As for the chickens, that bothers me too...I don't want to eat things that live crammed on top of each other, but that's why we raise our own. They have the whole run of the place...including the roof. (Don't ask me how they get up there.)
Just sayin'. ;)
We are failing miserably in this task. It is almost certain that the tiger will be extinct in the wild within 20 - 30 years. You can thank China for that and the satellite states nearby such as Bangladesh, India and Burma etc.
I find it depressing to be honest.
Of course the practice should be banned, but so should puppy farms, which also exist for the purpose of making money by force matings of domestic dogs, and keeping them in confined spaces with no socialisation or exercise.
We all know about such places, but no one seems to be able to put an end to these dogs suffering.
Governments just don't care about animal welfare enough, and yet when you think about how much the domestic dog has done for mankind, it is unbearable to know how many dogs have to endure this suffering to line the pockets of greedy uncaring people.
As you say the more one learns about the world, the more one realises it is not a very nice place to live in.