Politicians Earn their Stripes

23rd November 2010

Wildlife photographer and tiger charity advocate Paul Goldstein comments on this month's International Tiger Conservation Forum.

This week, in Russia, delayed by two months for some reason, thirteen nations get together to try to arrest the dramatic and savage decline of the tiger. They do this under the auspices of Vladimir Putin, both a sensitive and compassionate leader. All these countries that are just hanging on to their populations are there including China. The last one of these junkets/circuses/pantomimes/conventions was in July. In Bali. At a casino.

I am not remotely sorry if there is a thin veil of cynicism here. The falling tiger populations are firstly a national disgrace for all those thirteen countries, but secondly can be remedied and it has little to do with posturing, platitudes and crocodile tears in Russia. There will be much growling and politicians trying to appear compassionate like d-list celebrities fawning over cuddly species that are way above their pay grade, but little actual progress. The problem is Chinese medicine. Bite off the head of the monster and you have a solution built on rock not sand.

Whether it is the trade in rhino horn or tiger products, the demand is higher than it has ever been. There are abattoirs in China which house tigers in their hundreds, purportedly for tourism but are actually nothing more than sickening butcher's shops.
It is illegal to kill a tiger for trade but not illegal to let them die. This blurring of the conservation goalposts gives these savages carte blanche to perpetrate a breathtaking evil. The most brutal fact is that the swelling Chinese middle class are now wanting a piece of the pie, pelt or penis. Why are their desires so feverish ? Simple, they feel that the wild stocks may run out and wild ones are always worth more in the traditional market, than caged ones. They see the purchase of a tiger skin or bottle of tiger wine as an investment, it has got that bad.

The fact that none of these barbaric products actually work seems to have slipped by in the face of potential gain. This absurd irony is totally ignored. There are far cheaper drugs available that actually work solving headaches and libido than these mythical ones.
They do not cure, but there is a cure to this malaise. Shame. Pure and simple. The Chinese government need to be properly shamed to the world for their actions. There is no area in conservation where they can hold their head up. It would be easy to bring in their records on human rights, executions and ethnic cleansing but that would be off brief although it does explain a particular mindset. At the Copenhagen summit last December the world's politicians had a chance to shame them for what they are doing to the environment, they capitulated. David Cameron had the same chance earlier this month, he too bottled it. I watched someone from WWF whimpering on the BBC news but even he stopped short of outright condemnation. In Russia there is another chance ..........

In the late seventies the world turned its collective back on the skin trade. Overnight it was not fashionable to be seen in leopard skin coats or crocodile shoes. The tiger is not a fashion accessory except in China and Chinese controlled Tibet. It is now an investment and unless the mindset of the Chinese middle class and their murky politicians changes there is little hope for them. They will survive, I have no doubt, but only in small strongholds. A recent documentary shows us they also live at altitude in Bhutan but although enlightening it is never going to be a large population generating big income. Their remoteness is their chance for survival. The premise of a tiger corridor through China and India is as romantic as it is inconceivable. Don't get me wrong I wish it were possible but with those venal neighbours there is little or no chance.

For some reason, no tourism partners were invited to this bun fight. These are the players who ensure the tiger's survival despite some disgraceful reporting a few months back saying otherwise, which was actually nothing more than one Indian politician trying to cover up his government's incompetence by blaming it on tourism. The fact that a couple of well known so-called conservationists in the UK agreed, ignoring the facts, was disgraceful. Tigers generate millions of dollars of tourism revenue in India alone. Despite the rapidly increasing rates for choice cuts from carcasses this profit still cannot match the potential tourism gain.

Maybe there will be progress, maybe I am miserably pessimistic. I hope so but until the real culprits are recognised, exposed, shamed and brought to justice there will be little progress. Most importantly these traditional medicines do not work. The Chinese are smart, astute people, it is time they started saving face.

Paul Goldstein ran the London Marathon for his and Exodus' tiger foundation in Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh, click here to watch the video.

Next year he will be going one step further, actually four further by doing four marathons in a week in the same suit in Brighton, Manchester, Cardiff and London. We will keep you all informed of this ambitious charity appeal.