International Tiger Coalition
"If we can't save the tiger from extinction, we can't save anything!" was repeated in a myriad of ways over the past week in Washington, DC by conservation experts from around the world. Einstein's definition of insanity is to do the same thing, over and over and expect a different result. That has been "conservation as usual" to use the slang bantered about at this two day event that has been formally described as, "The most important conservation initiative undertaken in the history of the world to conserve wild tigers." What makes this initiative unlike all of the past programs is two fold. 39 major conservation groups, including Big Cat Rescue, have joined forces with one common goal: Save the tiger in the wild. There have been other joint efforts, but none this large and never before has an entity as powerful as the World Bank been a committed partner in saving wild places for wild animals.
Harrison Ford, one of Hollywood's hottest actors, thanks to his latest Indiana Jones movie breaking records in theaters, is on the board of Conservation International and spoke at the June 9th launch. Also in attendance were our friend, the beautiful Bo Derek, who won the Wildlife Guardian Award at the Fur Ball last year, and Robert Duvall. HSUS brought Tiger Kids to the launch and this photo is from their participation as a ITC members. See these celebrities up close and purrsonal in the most important roles of their lives in this video we shot and find out more about how the World Bank and the International Tiger Coalition plan to save the tiger.
Part 1: Smithsonian and Internationa Tiger Coalition Speeches
Part 2: World Bank President, Rober Zoellick and Harrison Ford Speeches
Big Cat Rescue has been accepted into the International Tiger Coalition based upon our unique ability to address the captive issues that imperil tigers in the wild. We keep the most accurate and up to date information on tigers in captivity, from attacks, maulings and escapes to proper care for tigers who have been bred for life in cages. We will be working with the team members of the International Tiger Coalition to stop the private possession and trafficking in tigers through better laws.
The US is the largest consumer of tiger parts. As China continues to defy world policy on tiger protection through their determination to farm tigers for their parts, it would create a legal market in China for tiger bones, organs and skins. When tigers are bred for photo opportunities in the US they outgrow their usefulness in just a few short months. If the trade of tigers in China is legalized, it gives US breeders a loop hole to sell their babies into slaughterhouse situations. While such slaughter is illegal in the US it is easy for those, who are so unscrupulous as to breed tigers in the first place, to exploit.
This is how they do it:
There is no cooperation between states to track tiger movement. Those who wish to exploit this lack of governance will license themselves in two states. Each state only cares about what happens in their own jurisdiction. Once the cat crosses a state line, no one is tracking what happens next. That way they can quietly disappear. This is why people in the industry are trying so hard to stop federal laws that would require them to be accountable from birth to death.
If a cat is owned by someone in one state, who is also licensed in a second state, and they want to get rid of the cat, all they have to do is tell the state where the cat is currently located that they are sending him to their out of state facility. USDA only tracks movement of tigers (sporadically) from one owner to another and not within the same ownership, even if in two different states. No one in the other state is alerted that the cat should be arriving and typically never does. This is how the the worst of the abusers bury the trail with the cat.
If big cat breeders and dealers will use a cub and shoot them when they are through it only stands to reason that they would leap at the opportunity to sell the tiger into underground slaughterhouses. Help Big Cat Rescue and the International Tiger Coalition put an end to tiger farming HERE
Who Cares About Tigers?
The International Tiger Coalition is an alliance of 41 organizations representing more than 100 organizations across the globe, united under the common aim of stopping trade in tiger parts and products from all sources. Members include:
Aaranyak
American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Animal Welfare Institute
Animals Asia Foundation
Association of Zoos & Aquariums
Big Cat Rescue
Born Free Foundation
Born Free USA (now part of API)
British and Irish Association of Zoos & Aquariums
Care for the Wild International
Conservation International
Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation
Environmental Investigation Agency
Global Tiger Patrol
Humane Society International
Humane Society of the United States
International Fund for Animal Welfare
PeunPa
Ranthambhore Foundation
Save The Tiger Fund
Species Survival Network
The Corbett Foundation
Tigris Foundation
TRAFFIC
21st Century Tiger
WildAid
Wildlife Alliance
Wildlife Conservation Nepal
Wildlife Conservation Society
Wildlife Protection Society of India
Wildlife Trust of India
World Association of Zoos & Aquariums
World Society for the Protection of Animals
WWF
Zoological Society of London
This unprecedented coalition, made up of environmental, zoo and animal protection organizations as well as the traditional Chinese medicine community, has come together to speak with one voice in calling for an end to trade in tiger parts and products through increased intelligence-led law enforcement and strengthening existing tiger-trade bans. Furthermore, the coalition joins leaders of the international traditional Chinese medicine industry in asking China to make its successful 14-year tiger-trade ban permanent.
Write a letter now to save the tiger from being farmed HERE
Read the Ten in Ten Plan to save 10,000 tigers in the wild in 10 years HERE and see how you can help.
See a slideshow of tigers at Big Cat Rescue HERE
The aim of the coalition is to coordinate research, communications and awareness-raising efforts in order to provide an organized response to the organized crime that sustains illegal tiger trade and endangers all wild tigers. www.endtigertrade.org
Update 12/21/07
The following is an excerpt of a note from the International Tiger Coalition
Dear All,
Please do not think my recent silence means that the ITC has been idle. On the contrary. There is much afoot, and I wanted to update you before the end of the year. Let’s plan to meet up again during the first part of January. Meanwhile, here is some of what is new:
New members
We have six new members, which means the ITC now has 41 member organizations. Congratulations to you all, as this is unprecedented in conservation history! Please welcome AMUR; Big Cat Rescue; Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV); International Trust for Nature Conservation; Phoenix Fund; and The Fund For The Tiger.
Kanha Circle
As mentioned in earlier meetings and updates, the ITC’s success at the CITES CoP last summer inspired those working exclusively on in situ tiger conservation to explore whether there was basis for creating a larger alliance speaking with one voice to save wild tigers. Please find attached a summary of what happened at what is now called the Kanha Circle, which was a November meeting in India’s Kanha Tiger Reserve to discuss a means of pushing tigers back up the list of global priorities. The results are exciting, and we are pursuing financial support to implement a global campaign that would include us all.
Tigers as cricket “stars”
Just after the Kanha Circle adjourned, ITC member WPSI was contacted by ZeeSports to make tigers the new Indian Cricket League’s first subject for cause messaging. ZeeSports offered creative assistance, billboards, video screens and banner space, passes for 15 “tigers” (people dressed as) and tiger conservation messaging inserted in English and Hindi during play-by-play commentary broadcast across Asia. WPSI and its supporters made it all happen in a week, and we hope that they will share video and more details with us soon. Congratulations, Belinda and Company!
January TCM conference in Beijing
It is not too late to register for the Beijing conference on traditional Chinese medicine’s role in tiger conservation, which will take place in late January. Some of you are getting bounce-backs from the organizers in Beijing. For safety’s sake, please forward all of your registration materials to me via email. Please also ensure that your contacts in relevant embassies (especially tiger range states, the UK, EU, Australia and the US) in Beijing know about the conference.
I apologize for not getting back to you about your questions regarding the sponsors of this conference. The three organizers include the American College of TCM and Save The Tiger Fund, both of which are ITC members. The World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS) is the third organizer and is the quasi-governmental organization associated with China’s State Administration for TCM. ACTCM and STF have been working with those who head the WFCMS for a decade. They were instrumental, with WWF, in organizing China’s first conference on TCM and wildlife conservation in Beijing in 1999. STF’s Campaign Against Tiger Trafficking (CATT) is the main funder of the conference, and we believe that this will be unique opportunity to get our messages across to leaders in the TCM community in China and around the world. Special thanks go to IFAW, WWF and TRAFFIC for their on-the-ground assistance in making this conference possible.
China’s new “Love Tigers” website
Just as the TCM conference begins in late January, the ITC will launch a new website in China called “Love Tigers.” This will be a website created by prominent Chinese artists and writers and other tiger lovers in China. It will be written in Chinese for Chinese and will feature news and commentary about tigers. The focus will be the wonders of wild tigers as well as the dangers posed to wild tigers by tiger trade from any source. This will be China’s first website dedicated to wild tigers.
Release of China survey results
A survey of urban Chinese commissioned by some members of the ITC will be released in January, but you will receive an advance copy of them very soon. In essence, the survey (a stratified random sampling of populations from seven major cities) shows a pervasive latent demand for tiger products. The good news is that a huge majority of the Chinese public favors keeping China’s tiger trade ban in place - for the sake of wild tigers and China’ global image. We will be submitting a paper on the results to a peer-reviewed conservation journal. Please let us know if you would like to be a co-author.
Delivery of signatures from the ITC mosaic campaign
We are moving forward with a plan to present the more than 70,000 signatures collected from people around the world asking China to keep its trade ban in place. We are exploring the possibility of presenting them to Chinese officials at the time of the TCM conference in January.
ITC’s award-winning “End Tiger Trade” campaign
As you know, our “End Tiger Trade” campaign won an honorable mention in the PR News Non-Profit Awards. This is a big deal in the non-profit communications sector in the U.S. We were not THE winner in our category, however, we don’t feel so badly about that since we were beat by the much more costly Darfur campaign of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Google, Inc. We should be very proud that we were a finalist in league with these giants - and we have a trophy to prove it. Thanks to all who made that possible, especially Jan Vertefeuille!
Possible access to China’s top leadership
While I cannot name names at this point, I can tell you that one of our ITC members has been able to talk with a very influential member of China’s State Council about the importance of China keeping its tiger trade ban firmly in place. This State Council member asked for a written summary of the issue for China’s top leaders. We will let you know whether this information reaches the top.
Happy holidays to those who are celebrating holidays at this time. Happy New Year to all!
With gratitude for your continuing partnership,
Judy Mills
Save The Tiger Fund
Director, Campaign Against Tiger Trafficking (CATT)
1120 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 900
Washington, DC 20036 USA
www.savethetigerfund.org/CATT