Stopping the trade in tiger and leopard skin

1.34.33pm GMT Thu 16th Mar 2006

Sarah with Nick Mole

Sarah Ludford, as a lover of cats big and small, is strongly supporting a written declaration in the European Parliament calling for action by the governments of India, Nepal and China to stop the illegal trafficking in tiger and leopard skins. She met Nick Mole of campaign group the Environmental Investigation Agency, who came to Strasbourg to lobby MEPs. Said Sarah:

"I applaud this initiative. These magnificent animals, their numbers decimated already by human activity, are again being poached for their skins. This must be treated as the serious organised crime that it is, and the EU can help with financial and technical assistance to facilitate enforcement, for instance with expertise from the wildcrime unit of the UK's National Criminal Intelligence Service."