Vietnam Officials Plan to Sell Confiscated Tiger Parts

There’s more debate about legal trade stimulating illegal trade in wildlife products – this time vis-a-vis tigers. Vietnamese officials plan to auction over six pounds of ‘tiger paste’ confiscated from traffickers. While Vietnamese law prohibits the possession and trade of any and all tiger parts and products, an apparent loophole would allow its legal sale. Hanoi-based NGO, Education for Nature (ENV) recommends instead destroying this stockpile of tiger paste (which is derived from tiger bones and used in traditional medicine, although no medicinal properties have been scientifically proven). Read more about Vietnam and tigers here. For a report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, that analyzes seizures of illegal tiger parts and products, click here.