Could the year of the tiger be their last? Because their body parts are so widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, tigers are at the head of the pack of endangered species.

• Author: Marsh, Bill
• Position: INTERNATIONAL

A century ago, about 100,000 tigers roamed the world's forests. Today--in the Chinese Year of the Tiger there are barely 3,000. The greatest declines in the wild tiger population have been in China and its neighbor India, where some famous tiger reserves now have no tigers at all.

China may have as few as 20 wild tigers left, and India has about 1,400--down from more than 3,600 in 2002. (There are an estimated 5,000 captive tigers in China and another 8,000 worldwide--kept as exhibits, entertainment, pets, and livestock.)

Several factors have contributed to the dramatic decrease in the world's wild tiger population: the demand in some Asian countries for tiger body parts believed to have medicinal powers (see graphic, facing page); poachers who raid wildlife sanctuaries; and shrinking habitats due to land development and urbanization. In many places, the tiger's range has been reduced to small patches, isolating the animals in groups of dozens of tigers or fewer.

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And tigers aren't the only species likely to have a bad year in 2010. In fact, thousands of animals are endangered, including at least a quarter of the world's mammal species, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In March, a United Nations conference on endangered species focused on tigers as well as bluefin tuna, which is being overfished due to its popularity as sushi, and elephants, which are killed for their ivory tusks.

$1,000 PAWS

"All of the demand for tiger parts is coming from China," says Belinda Wright, executive director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India. "Unless the Chinese change their attitude, the tiger has no future on this earth."

Despite the Chinese government's ban on the trade since 1993, there is a thriving market for tiger bones, traditionally believed to possess healing qualifies, and tiger skins, which have become prestigious trophies. With pelts selling for $20,000 and a single paw worth as much as $1,000, the value of a dead tiger has never been higher, say those who investigate the trade.

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But China's anti-trafficking enforcement efforts are haphazard, say conservationists. Although the government bans the use of tiger parts in traditional Chinese medicine, it overlooks the sale of alcohol-based tonics steeped in tiger bone.

This gray area is being exploited by China's tiger farms, which raise thousands of animals with assembly-line efficiency. At Xiongsen Tiger and...