Authorities in China arrested three wildlife traffickers in Nanning and confiscated “hundreds” of bear paws, along with pangolin and tortoise carcasses, following a three-month investigation.
According to China Daily, the bear paws represented the slaughter of “at least 43 black bears”. The pangolins and tortoises were “sealed in a refrigerator and disguised as tea”. The contraband could have been worth 20 million yuan (US $3.15 million) on the black market.
Authorities suspect that the animal parts were “ordered” from Dongxing (which borders Vietnam), and sold in Nanning, Guangzhou, and Kunming.
While arrests and seizures are encouraging, the underlying issues regarding China’s role in the illegal wildlife trade — particularly tiger trade — have yet to be seriously addressed by CITES.
China has continued to ignore its responsibility as a signatory to CITES and has placed the credibility of the Global Tiger Recovery Plan (GTRP) at risk by continuing to breed tigers for their skins and body parts, as well as maintain stockpiles of frozen tiger carcasses.
Unless and until China is publicly taken to task by the global community for its commercial tiger farms — and bear farms and rhino farms — efforts to curb wildlife crime will continue to be undermined.
Image: Shizhao (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons
Rhishja Cota
I am the founder of Annamiticus and I have been researching and writing about wildlife trafficking issues since 2009. I also founded World Pangolin Day in 2012. I am the author of USAID Wildlife Asia's Pangolin Species Identification Guide: A Rapid Assessment Tool for Field and Desk. I co-facilitated and was a presenter at the USAID Wildlife Asia Pangolin Care Workshop. At the 4th Regional Dialogue on Combating Trafficking of Wild Fauna and Flora, I facilitated the species roundtables on pangolins. I have trekked with forest rangers in Cambodia, journeyed to the streets of Hanoi to research the illegal wildlife trade, and to the rainforests of Sumatra and Java to document the world’s rarest rhinos. At CITES meetings, I collaborate with colleagues from around the world to lobby in favor of protecting endangered species. I hosted the Behind the Schemes podcast and am the author of the book Murder, Myths & Medicine. I enjoy music, desert gardening, herping, reading, creating, and walking with my dogs. Check out my t-shirts and stickers at snoots + teefers.