London MEP calls for end to tiger slaughter

3.44.06pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 6th Apr 2006

Sarah met Nick Mole of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an organisation dedicated to exposing environmental crime which is leading the Europe-wide campaign to save the tiger.

A London Euro-MP has added her voice to a campaign calling for an end to the trade in tiger skins and says that urgent action is needed to save the animals from extinction.

Demand for items made from tiger skins remains strong, especially in Asia. Tiger skin rugs command high prices in India and China, costumes made out of the pelts are worn in festivals in China and Tibet, and traditional medicines may still use tiger parts.

London Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford, a lover of cats big and small, is calling on the Chinese, Indian and Nepalese governments to protect the tiger sanctuaries and stop the trade in skins. She said:

"These magnificent animals are being driven towards extinction. Unless steps are taken urgently to end the slaughter we will have no tigers left in the wild. This must be treated as the serious organised crime that it is, and the EU can give financial and technical help to make sure international rules are enforced."

A century ago there were 100,000 tigers in the wild. Official estimates put the figure now at less than 5,000 and there are fears that an explosion in poaching may have reduced the real number to just a few hundred.

Trade in tiger skins and parts is banned by international law but police enforcement is often poor. Poaching and trafficking of tiger skins between India, Nepal and China is controlled by sophisticated criminal gangs.