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Covert investigations in China reveal trade in product made from tigers which die at Chinese 'safari' parks.

Poster advertising tiger bone wine at a park © EIA Click to enlarge Animal park staff show our investigators the wine. © EIA Click to enlarge

LONDON June 9th: ANIMAL parks in China are selling illegal tiger bone wine made from the remains of the captive big cats which die there, covert investigations by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) have revealed.

WATCH the footage HERE

Despite national and international laws banning trade in the body parts of tigers, staff at ‘safari’ parks offered to sell undercover EIA investigators tiger bone wine and were openly advertising the wine.

Park staff told EIA they had regular customers for the wine - an alcoholic ‘health tonic’ made from the crushed bones of deceased tigers and which purports to treat a wealth of conditions including arthritis and rheumatism.

One regular customer bought two cases of wine at a time, it was said. It was offered at up to US $186 (£94) a bottle at one park and “deluxe” gift packs at US $286 (£145) were on sale at another.

One of the parks even showed EIA a certificate they claimed was an official government permit allowing them to sell the wine on the premises only.

'Bones stored on site'

Both parks visited said the tigers had died following fights there. They are skinned and carcasses stored in freezers until they can be separated from the bones. The park near Beijing admitted it kept skins but was unclear what happened to them. Trade in skins is also banned under national law and under CITES (the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).

EIA researchers had followed up one company advertising what appeared to be bone wine on the internet to see if it was a scam. They traced it to the Qinhuangdao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Beidaihe, Hebei Province, just four hours drive from Beijing where it was claimed the bones of tigers were stored.

However, it was at the neighbouring facility, the privately owned Qinhuangdao Wild Animal Park where EIA investigators were offered tiger bone wine. The park is open to the public, boasting a ‘safari’ and a circus with performing tigers, lions, bears and primates.
The same company owns Badaling Safari World on the outskirts of Beijing, which had previously been exposed in a 2007 report for openly advertising tiger bone wine. When EIA visited in Dec 2007 it was still offering visitors tiger bone wine. It said there were between 40 and 50 captive-bred tigers on site at that time.

”Debbie Banks Head of EIA’s Tiger Campaign said: “Chinese authorities are clearly continuing to turn a blind eye to the illegal trade and EIA is now calling for an urgent crackdown on the trade at these parks.

“We also want other parks with similar tiger ‘attractions’ to be investigated to see how widespread this tiger bone wine making practice is. We want authorities to give a clear message to the business community that this illegal trade will not be tolerated.”
Furthermore, a powerful lobby of the businessmen who own these parks and tiger ‘farms’ in China is pressuring its government to lift the current domestic ban on trade in tiger body parts so it can commercially produce tiger bone wine from captive animals.
But EIA and many conservation groups say this would be disastrous for endangered wild tigers.

“Lifting the ban would increase demand and lead to a surge in poaching of India’s already embattled wild tiger populations. It would be all too easy to launder their skins, bones and parts among those from legalised tiger farms. This would be effectively declare an open season on wild tigers,” said Debbie Banks.
Ends

A Pdf of the full report can be downloaded HERE

For stills, frame grabs and broadcast and web-ready footage contact EIA's Press Office (below)

Frequently Asked Questions on Tiger Bone Wine follow below.
For more information contact:
Debbie Banks, Head of EIA’s Tiger Campaign
+44 (0) 207 354 7973
+44 (0) 777 342 8360
debbiebanks@eia-international.org
Alasdair Cameron, EIA Tiger Campaigner
+44 0207 354 7988
+44 (0) 7788 718108
alasdaircameron@eia-international.org
Stuart Coles, EIA Press & Communications
+44 (0207) 354 7984
+44 (0) 7988 543 221
stuartcoles@eia-international.org

Frequently Asked Questions:

How is tiger bone wine made?
Generally, the tiger carcass is steeped in a vat of rice wine for 2-3 years. Some steep it for six.
Some brands add medicinal herbs, others don’t.

Why do people take tiger bone wine?
Some producers market it as a general health tonic, others sell it as a medicine for treating rheumatism.
The professional Chinese medicine community has said that ever since tiger bone was removed from the official list of ingredients in 1993 that they have been working with culturally acceptable substitutes, and that they don’t need to use tiger bone.

Does it really contain tiger parts?>
Given that the carcass is soaked in the wine, there is likely to be insufficient bone in the packaged product to detect it through DNA analysis. So for the retailer or the consumer, there is no real way of knowing – it’s based on marketing and trust. If enforcement authorities were committed to investigating the problem they could take samples from the carcasses that are being steeped in the wine. Under Chinese domestic law and the domestic law of most CITES Parties, it is illegal to sell products that claim to contain tiger. This is because it is prohibitively expensive to prove these products contain tiger and makes it easier for enforcement officers.

Where does it come from?
A number of different brands have been seen advertised for sale on the internet or offered for sale from tiger farms and wild animal parks. The tiger bone wine that EIA was shown is purported to be made on the premises of a ‘Wild Animal Park’, but staff declined to show EIA investigators the wine factory.

Who buys it?
Anyone who believes in the marketing! In one case, the business manager suggested it was fairly local and regular customers who might buy in bulk to offer as gifts to friends. Other brands of wine at other facilities are reported to have been purchased by visitors from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan (see IFAW’s ‘Made in China’ report). Tiger bone wine is also for sale over the Chinese-language internet and it is reported that it is used as a form of bribe for government officials.

How much does it cost?
Varies in price, Beidacang wine was offered to EIA for $83 (£42) for 250ml and $286 (£145) for 500ml deluxe pack.

Why is it a problem?
Staff at facilities EIA visited claimed bones used came from captive tigers, and even this is illegal under Chinese domestic law. For EIA to visit two parks just hours drive from Beijing and find tiger bone wine openly advertised, shows a general lack of pro-active enforcement in China.
Given the lack of enforcement and the potential for stimulating massive demand, it would be disastrous to re-open domestic trade in farmed tigers. Wild tigers will always be considered more valuable and given that it is cheaper to kill them in the wild than it is to raise them in captivity, it would be like declaring open season. We say that China should invest in more effective and coordinated intelligence-led enforcement to combat illegal international and domestic tiger trade.

Is it legal?
Under Chinese national law AND a special State Council Order, it is illegal to manufacture, use, sell, import, export tiger parts and derivatives and products that claim to contain tiger parts. It would be a violation of CITES if tiger bone wine was imported / exported. The CITES Parties have recognised the threat posed to wild tigers from tiger farms and domestic trade and in June, passed a Decision by consensus that “Parties with intensive operations breeding tigers on a commercial scale shall implement measures to restrict the captive population to a level supportive only to conserving wild tigers; tigers should not be bred for trade in their parts and derivatives.” ENDS

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