Sustainable use for conservation has been a focus of two recent articles at BBC News. Eugune Lapointe put the argument for commercial trade in ivory in a piece entitled ‘Hunting for Conservation Solutions’ and a second piece by Eli Leadbeater entitled ‘Hunting has Conservation Role’ had a similar message ending with comment that, “In the future, the fate of many animals may well depend on the extent to which the public around the world starts to accept the idea of utilising wildlife in a sustainable way.”
The argument makes sense for African elephants, where well managed herds in places like South Africa need to be periodically culled. But I have trouble extending the argument to include, for example, tigers.
Sumatran Tiger in the wild, photograph from Richard Ness.*
The Asian tiger appears to be in trouble with accutane skins and body parts in demand in China. Mihir Srivastava explains that most of this demand is being met from India in a recent piece at On Line Opinion entitled ‘Indian Tiger Falls Prey to Chinese Aggression’.
There are apparently only 4-500 tigers remaining in Sumatra, in Indonesia. According to Wild Tiger, a website dedicated to the survival of Sumatra’s tigers, forest clearing for new large-scale oil-palm plantations is a real threat to this subspecies of tiger. Is demand for biodiesel in Europe fueling the demand for palm oil?
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Thanks to David@Tokyo for alerting me to the two BBC articles.
* Note from Richard Ness: “The picture was taken by a camera trap. All you do is set a digital camera along the trail and it takes a picture of any animal or human that walks by. We had requested the tiger foundation to assist in base line studies on wild life in an area in Sumatra. This photo was taken by a camera trap set by Dr. Neil Franklin from the Tiger Foundation. We had a separate group for Orangutans. We did find is a very unique area where the Aceh bio diversity overlapped with the North/Central Sumatra bio diversity. Ended up working with US AID and conservation international to try and have it protected. This work is still on going. What I also learned is that tigers are very interesting. I am not sure the cutting of primary forest for logging or plantations is a real issue for them. They may do just as well in secondary growth. The main problem is humans hunting them for parts… same goes for orangutans.”
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
I am not sure which brand of tiger it was but I did see a program where an orphaned tiger was relocated to africa, strange circumstances, but an absolutely magnificent animal that far surpasses lions and other predators.
An easy solution to illegal wildlife killing is us to ban all trade with countries that can’t police their own doorstep. Impossible you say? In reality we are quick to react to threats like bird flu and terrorist bombings etc. But because it is only wildlife there is no universal will and that makes us all a selfish lot.
In their quest to minimise “fossil fools” Europeans seem quite prepared to extinguish living fauna.
Thats a totally stupid comment Gavin, you are recommending trade sanctions on countries that are barely able to feed their own people – to save widllife.
That makes ‘universal will’ (whatever that is – dont believe it exists but ask your mate phil, he’s an expert on stuff that doesnt exist) an entirely selfish lot.
Hell, I agree with rog. Sanctions could have the reverse effect – more poverty, more bare subsistence and bushmeat demand and more growth in informal trade of wildlife products. We need to support the development of effective institutional controls (democracy, education, money mngt, independent judiciary, property rights, trade regulations etc) and livelihood opportunities. International aid conditionality imposes fiscal austerity which may undermine poor nations’ abilities to self-govern and weaken internal institutions and in some cases also creates opportunities for corruption.
Re: Jennifer’s post that sustainable use conservation might be ok where viable populations already exist, but not where populations are more endangered, well it becomes a chicken or egg question. What to do for vulnerable populations if all measures to date have failed?
In the big picture, what’s driving the problem? In some cases, fish stocks are less available to traditional fishermen – eg higher takes by industrial fishing operations – leading to more pressure on bushmeat sources.
I avoid products containing palm oil. Do you? It’s widely used.
Most( many) NGOs in Europe highlight the dangers with biodiesel and especially the cutting down of primary forest to substitute it with momoculture palm oil plantations.
I can mention the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and Birdlife International as two NGOs working on this topic.
Problem seems to be that the industry promotes itself as eco-friendly if they sell hybrid cars, and forgets the real problems with biodiesel, they are just fooling the broad mass of the public with this biodiesel stunt.
I really need some help here …. my mom has a skin from an endangered animal hidden in her cellar…. and don’t know what to do with it.
We think the skin is too beautiful to destroy, it is impossible to sell on the legal market though I guess it was bought very long ago when the trade was not illegal.
She wants to used it to some good purpose for conservation efforts… has anybody any good idea what to do???
Anne: Your situation is not unusual. I come from a long line of hunters, exploiters, wheelers and dealers. You keep your mouth shut and hand it on quietly. This protects your clan.
A few years ago Anne, I was offered an interesting opportunity not far from home. In those days I called on everyone round about sooner or later developing my toe to toe doorstep routines. A wise old rural guy knew I was a collector who had network of dealer acquaintances. He challenged me to value his “relic/antique” sight unseen with the opportunity to buy if my price was right. Money up front; or nothing for this hot piece of property.
But I smelt a rat and walked away thinking where it would lead. I left him some good advice so I thought.
About a fortnight later a story turned up in the local paper on page three with a photo of this sad item. What had been stored for decades in an old trunk in his back shed by generations of his folks was a tatty skin from a marsupial tiger. It had been hastily tanned and poorly kept after it was spirited away from it’s habitat by our back wood farmers.
I had a feeling its exposure would go down like a lead balloon and it did as its keepers had suspected all those years. In the end some foreign bounty hunter made a public offer probably after our museums condemned it for what it was a bad piece of history.
“you are recommending trade sanctions on countries that are barely able to feed their own people”
I thought that was what countries like the nuclear weapons-weilding US are doing to the now nuclear weapons- weilding North Korea? In other words, trade sanctions already happen because people don’t give a toss about people, let alone wildlife. (No, I am not condemning trade sanctions with wildlife-trafficking countries btw).
“an absolutely magnificent animal that far surpasses lions and other predators.” But then again this ‘favouritism’ is obviously not limited to whole nations.
Anne, your skin may be useful at a zoo which has an education centre. Beautifully preserved skins are great for kids who are vision-impaired but can feel the pelts of various animals. Where it is now, it is doing nothing. Donate it (not sell it) to a local wildlife organisation or zoo education centre where it can at least hopefully do something for its kind in the way of appreciation and understanding.
The N Korean sanctions are to prevent nuclear technology, large scale weapons, and luxury goods getting into the country, and they were imposed unanimously by the UNITED NATIONS security council, not the US.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sc8853.doc.htm
Still, never let the facts get in the way of a good anti-US rant.
Jen: With regard respect this post for what it is a personal story. Rog and one or two other oldies will guess where it comes from.
Rog: In the beginning there was a gang of boys, in fact a network Australia wide who took it upon themselves to illuminate invaders from wherever. We used sticks, guns, shanghais and long arms. Yours truly fell off a barbed wire fence whilst one arm was fully extended down a hole in a tree. We were eventually busted by a non sympathetic press because we also collected.
After I and my team had proved our worth several boys were invited to see some transfer stations. Our local guru had become part of a national network in breeding the rare untamed. To cut a long story short he too was busted, not by the press but by the authorities. They had become jealous of his and the others success in their private menageries.
But there was a trade of sorts and parts of the old network remained intact. I believe my nearest became associated with the late Steve’s enterprise for a time but I deliberately do not ask how or why any one went separate ways today. However I’m endeavouring to demonstrate how we all changed with a little hindsight. Some of us began painting things like Australian parrots at school. Wildlife appreciation has many facets.
Rog: There are also two sides to campaigning. One is to use control freak stuff and stamp on the enemy i.e. trade sanctions and prison terms. The other is to work with local networks for better outcomes. In the 70’s after one of our independent major environment groups split up, exhausted associates went their various ways.
One young fellow became one of Australia’s first Greenpeace internationals. We had to rescue him soon after from a Jail in Paris much to the dismay of Australian diplomats. He suffered a severe physical lesson. Another, the old campaigner in his retirement went straight to Jakarta to organise the campaign to save the Sumatran Tiger. We were talking fiveteen hundred or was it several thousand tigers then? He almost suffered the same fate as our “frogman” friend. I decided several times never to go abroad.
A third way of campaigning is to use our wits and stay alive. Know when you are on a good thing. Experience can be used in other ways as my old “zoo” associate from red necked territory way back proved. Not far from where I live now, there was a pile of hardware for me to evaluate, mostly electronic items seized from a plane tracked to an abandoned airstrip. While writing a report for the federal court I thought a lot about networks, sanctions and so on.
How smart are we in saving this poor tiger?
“like the nuclear weapons-weilding US”
“Still, never let the facts get in the way of a good anti-US rant.”
The word “like” is in there Paul. And regardless, the North Koreans still go hungry.
A counter intuitive way to look at the problems for the Sumatran tiger would be to legalise trade in tiger parts from “sustainably managed” tiger preserves. In other words, make it more profitable for the tiger habitat to be preserved than for it to be cleared for plantations.
It would require assigning property rights to the habitat and the tigers in some way, but as there is already a demand, it may be possible to make it profitable.
Like it or not, animals that have direct value to humans won’t be made extinct by human activity.
Brilliant suggestion from Travis on how to use that animal skin. Let us know what you do Ann. It’s already dead, it should be put to good use, not hidden.
One of the tricky aspects of conservation of endangered species that are endemic to poorer countries is that the drive for conservation reflects western priorities. Locals are trying to survive. Ironically, many of the rural battlers who resent the interference on their turf by urban greenies in turn have strong opinions themselves about the need and the method to protect endangered species and forests in 3rd world countries.
Hi Travis and Pinxie,
Thanks a lot for your input, the skin is actually a very beautiful fur of ozelot, GEEEE MOM!!!! Don’t know what was in her mind when she bought it or was it grandma??
Anyway, they tried to sell once ,it was on the open market in Germany, in the 80’s since nobody wanted to wear it, but heard it was an Appendix I listed animal and trade was forbidden now…
Anyway, it has been forgotten now and not been used for decades but in absolutely best shape, so I’m going to contact a big zoo in Sweden that is also interested in conservation work and ask them what to do!
I will let you know what will happen to the fur…
Hi Ann,
Is the ocelot pelt fashioned into a coat, or is it still in its (semi!) original form? I can easily get a contact for you at a Swedish Zoo if you like.
Hi Libby,
Good to hear from you on this issue, the ocelot pelt is fashioned into a coat, in fantastic shape.
I would be very pleased if you can get a contact for me regarding this fur, because in the family we have been discussing a lot what to do with it, and if it could be to any use for conservation work etc.
Libby, please take contact with me via e-mail regarding the Swedih zoo contacts etc.
A big thanks!
PW sez:
“Like it or not, animals that have direct value to humans won’t be made extinct by human activity.”
Some truth to that. But it didn’t save the New Zealand Moas or the Mauritian Dodo or etc. etc.
LOL Taz… you’re story quite funny , but our fur is in a very good condition even if it has been in the cellar for some decades… unfortunately though not only one animal have been killed in to create this mentioned fur of ours… bad, bad
“Like it or not, animals that have direct value to humans won’t be made extinct by human activity.”
Probably quite a few species you could add to that list Steve M. Odd comment though.
So, where did we humans go wrong with the Moa? Did we deliberately and knowingly eliminate them?
Regarding Tigers in India, I have some indian colleagues, and one of them told me that his opinion is that no one in India really cares about the tigers, and don’t see the point of trying to protect them from extinction.
I think Jen is right, the concept can’t be applied in a blanket like fashion, but retaining the option of sustainable use for conservation seems to me to be a wise and pragmatic thing to do from a conservation perspective.
The comments at the BBC on the matter were quite divided. Some commenters rejected the idea that hunting could help conserve wildlife. Interestingly, those claiming to be in the wildlife field themselves were not amongst those making such comments.
David,
Maybe you are right that many people in India don’t care about tigers and conservation work, this is a priviledge maybe for not so poor Westerners…. I have also heard they have great problems with leopards in a city.
As usual it’s about habitat loss for the leopards and they are attacking people who move into their territory…
Note there is an update from Richard Ness in the above post. The photo is from a camera trap.
Richard,
Didn’t know they killed orangutans for body parts to be used in traditional Chinese medicine… thanks for the enlightening. Thought they killed mature orangutans just to kidnap their babies…
Well, I have mentioned this previously, don’t think the Chinese authorities are especially keen on to stop this humbug that the animal body parts have a miraculous health impact.
The traditional Chinese medicine plays a big part in their ” modern medicine” as well.
They even don’t want to substitute bear bile with synthetic medicines.
David, this is my main problem with Lapointe, he supports Chinese bear bile farming.
Ann,
I edited Richard’s note which went on to say : “the main problem humans hunting them for parts… same goes with orangutans….. the area where we were, the Nias people hunted them for food.. Tigers have a great adaptability and as long as there is game such as pigs or what ever in the plantations… tigers do fine… they do not seem to be scared of people or equipment… as an example, in a plantation near where we were exploring a few years ago, a tiger jumped over a back hoe boom while the operator was digging a ditch, ate the guys dog… and walked off.”
OK, thanks Jen for the explanation…
I have heard this story however from Indonesia and their big bird and animal markets… if you have an old and sick aunt , it’s not very, very difficult to get hold of a tiger body part…don’t know the accuracy though of this story…
Ann,
I don’t really know much at all about the bear-bile farming so can’t say I’d support it or oppose it one way or the other (don’t have enough time to really read through enough stuff to form an opinion on it right now) but on the surface it does seem to me that there are probably more effective medicines available using other sources.
The only thing I’d worry about is that then the Chinese would lose interest in conserving their bears, as seems to be the case with the tigers in India.
My Indian colleague is actually from a more well-off background in India, and he’d be regarded as a rich man were he back home (I heard that his family has a maid). So we’re talking about even well-off people who are thinking nothing of the tigers, although another colleague from India was more on my side and thought it important to conserve tigers, although she is against killing animals for human use in general.
India actually annoys me quite a lot because of this. Their government seems to be presiding over a big conservation within their own borders, and yet they send their delegate to the IWC to vote against sustainable whaling. India is one of the most hypocritical nations in this regard.
Ann isn’t part of the problem the WHO backing TCM (trad chin medecine). Led to its expansion & commercialisation with industrial production techniques and controls on inputs, hence more demand for genuine wildlife inputs to specified proportions (another eg, sea horses).
Libby that ‘odd comment’ above assumes private property rights (allocate private ownership over all natural resources and permit market functions) will make everything peachy. Human use can lead to extinctions as it has in the past, but where it doesn’t, it can lead to specialised breeds & gene stocks instead. THe species, or at least it lineage may survive but would it be ‘wild’life and does it matter?
Living here in Australia, I would like to think that the Sumatran Tiger is thriving, even though I will probably never go and see them.
I certainly wouldn’t like to meet one on an evening stroll in the park near my home.
People who live near the tiger’s habitat probably feel the same, maybe they would prefer a palm nut plantation to a bunch of tigers, especially if that bought in more money.
But maybe if they owned the tigers, and there was a legal trade in tiger products (there’s already a market for them), they would choose to conserve the tigers and their habitat, maybe even extend the habitat so there were more tigers, if the market grew.
Of course, if the trade was legal, there may be even more incentive to intensively “farm” tigers, which is already illegal as far as I know.
Perhaps local indians would support conservation if tourism was inolved and the local community were to share in the benfeits.
In Borneo, traditional peoples have long hunted mammals and birds to the point of being scarce or endangered.
Why should traditional land users stop their usual ways just because some rich comfortable people in rich countries decide the animal should be conserved?
If there are many locals, tribes/clans, communities, organisations how would you allocate ownership? Now that neo-liberal reforms are trickling down to change their way of life and the rise of individual rights and earnings is taking priority over traditional group concerns, how could they be expected to self-organise as a community with shared interests to protect a small population of a vulnerable species?
Even if they did organise, how to stop poachers? A tiny number of poachers can defy local communities and govt who lack the resources, sanctions and judiciary system to catch or punish the poachers.
They’re good questions, Pinxi. They would need to be addressed before trying that type of intervention.
The problem is not lack of tigers but lack of habitat. Where there is commercial value and property rights, habitat can be conserved. But it requires property rights, which depends on the rule of law.
As you say, that is likely to be the main problem.
Still, if people perceive a greater value in planting oil palms, then there goes the tiger habitat. So maybe providing the opportunity to make more money out of the natural habitat would help conserve it. And for that, the trade in tiger parts may have to be legalised, at least in part.