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The TigerSkin Trail

Contents

Introduction 1

Wild Tigers Under Threat 2

The Skin Trade Menace 3

Incidents And Intelligence 4

The Himalayan Network 6Poached In India 6The Nepal Connection 8India-Nepal Links 8Destination China 9

Map of Seizures 12

The Profit Motive 14

The Enforcement Imperative 15

Enforcement In The Himalayan Region 18

Conclusions & Recommendations 19

References 20

Right:Hunted for theirhides the illegal skintrade takes it’s tollon tigers and otherAsian big cats.

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Front cover photos: backround © Fatepur Forest Department, inset © Robin Hamilton. Back cover photo: © Iain Green.

Introduction

Introduction This report is a call to action to stop theinternational illegal trade in tiger and otherendangered Asian big cat skins. It drawstogether information from India, Nepal andChina, as source, transit and destinationcountries. It also highlights the urgent need forgovernments to improve wildlife crimeinvestigation, analysis, enforcement,communication and cooperation.

Parties to the United Nations Convention onInternational Trade in Endangered Species(CITES) need to demonstrate greater politicalcommitment and treat wildlife crime moreseriously. Key range, transit and destinationcountries need to establish specialisedenforcement units capable of combating theorganised criminal networks controlling thetrade. Professional enforcement agencies needto be involved in ensuring greater cross-bordercommunication and coordination and theinternational community, both government andnon-government, needs to provide adequatetechnical and financial assistance in mobilisingnew enforcement initiatives.

There can be no doubt that the skin trade isspiralling out of control. On a remote road inthe west of the Tibet Autonomous Region(hereafter referred to as Tibet), in October2003, customs officers at a temporarycheckpoint made a startling discovery that liftedthe lid on the true scale of the illegal trade intiger and leopard skins.

In a single consignment officers recovered theskins of 31 tigers, 581 leopards and 778 otters.The skins came from India and were on routeto Lhasa, capital of Tibet, a major hub for thetrade.

This incident did not come out of the blue. Fora decade the trade in skins has been escalating,but in the last five years the internationalcommunity has borne witness to a dramaticincrease in the volume of consignments thathave been seized in India, Nepal and China,and to the level of organisation behind thetrade.

The trade is well financed and coordinatedbetween poachers, couriers and dealers withinternational connections. Whilst India, Nepaland China should be commended for theseizures they have made, it is clear that, farfrom being deterred, the organised criminalnetworks have continued unabated.

Herein lies the problem. The enforcementcommunity is impotent in the face of this tradebecause national governments fail to treatwildlife crime seriously enough.

Unless full political backing from nationalleaders and adequate resources are provided toenforcement officers to combat wildlife crime,efforts to stamp out the trade in tiger skins willbe doomed to failure.

This report provides a short catalogue ofincidents that illustrate how the lack of acoordinated enforcement approach in India hasled to the skin traders running rampant. Itshows how analysis of the clues left behind atthe scenes of crimes can provide valuableinsights into how the trade networks operate. Itdemonstrates how a heavily burdened judicialsystem and the failure of penalties to provideany real deterrent, result in repeat offenderstrading whilst out on bail.

The lack of cooperation between India andNepal is evident in the failure to apprehendNepalese nationals associated with seizures inIndia. The judiciary has acted swiftly in seizurecases in Nepal, but the penalties are again tooweak to deter those who drive the trade.

Though the skin trade is poorly understood andthe end markets quite diffuse, it is clear thatChina is the primary destination for tiger andleopard skins from India. Traders in Tibet havetold the Environmental Investigation Agency(EIA) that they sell tiger and leopard skins towealthy Chinese and Europeans, while skin isalso used locally as trim on traditionalcostumes. The October 2003 seizure shows thatthe Chinese authorities have the capacity andwillingness to investigate the trade andindividuals in China face severe penalties ifconvicted, however greater efforts are needed tountangle and break up the distributionnetworks and markets.

If the remaining populations of wild tigers andAsian leopards are to survive this currentonslaught, renewed political will is required inIndia, Nepal and China to tackle the obstaclesto effective enforcement. They need to worktogether to stop the illegal skin traders before itis too late.

Debbie BanksEIA Senior CampaignerOctober 2004

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Wild Tigers Under Threat Over 100 years ago, there were an estimated100 000 tigers worldwide. Today there areprobably fewer than 5000 wild tigers across anever shrinking range. Tigers are found in India(home to around half of the world’s remainingwild tigers), Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, thePeople’s Republic of China, Thailand, Burma,Vietnam, Laos PDR, Cambodia, Indonesia,Malaysia and the Russian Far East.

On the Indian sub-continent trophy hunting ledto massive declines, whilst in China the tigerhad been persecuted as an agricultural pest. Bythe 1970s new initiatives were established inIndia to protect tigers from hunting and trade.Other tiger range states followed this example,but tigers are still threatened throughout theirrange by poaching to cater for the illegalinternational trade in skins and bones, byhabitat destruction and decline in natural preypopulations.

Tigers (Panthera tigris) have been listed onAppendix I of CITES since 1975, with theexception of the Siberian sub-species, whichwas added in 1987. In spite of this protection,dramatic declines have occurred in allpopulations as demand for tiger bones intraditional medicines spread throughout the1990s.

Demand was widespread with a proliferation ofpatented and packaged medicines claiming tocontain tiger bone available for sale acrossAsia, Europe and the USA. Significant effortswere made to amend legislation in manycountries to outlaw the manufacture and sale oftiger parts and products. Given that forensictests are prohibitively expensive many countrieshave banned the sale of products that claim tocontain tiger. There has also been a great dealof investment in outreach and public awarenesscampaigns launched to educate targetaudiences.

Nonetheless, the demand for real bone appearsto continue and has spread to populations ofAsian leopards (Panthera pardus) and snowleopards (Uncia uncia), reportedly targeted assubstitutes for tiger bone1. Both these specieswere listed on Appendix I of CITES in 1975.While the trade in tiger bones has largely beenpushed underground, the survival of wild tigersis now further imperilled by the menace of aburgeoning trade in skins.

Wild Tigers Under Threat

Above:The demand for bonein traditionalmedicine led towidespreadpoaching in the early1990s.

Right:Potential consumercountries like theUK launchedenforcement andcommunity outreachprogrammes in the1990s.

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The Skin Trade Menace

The Skin Trade MenaceWhile great effort has gone into addressing thedemand for tiger bone used in traditionalmedicines, far less attention has been devotedto the international illegal trade in tiger andleopard skins, despite the fact that it hasoperated alongside the trade in tiger bone andin the last four years has rapidly escalated.

This growing threat is vividly illustrated by theanalysis of seizures of consignments of skinssince the end of 1999, revealing a level oforganisation and confidence among traffickingnetworks that has led to them taking greaterrisks in moving large consignments of skins tosatisfy a growing market.

Evidence of the frightening scale of this illegaltrade is provided by the seizure of 31 tigerskins, 581 leopard skins and 778 otter skins inTibet in October 20032. All the skins werestowed in one truck under sacks of wool.

Patterns have emerged that indicate strongclandestine networks between traders in Indiancities, who collect and process Indian tigerskins, and traders in Nepal and China, who buythe skins for a potentially diffuse end-market.

The demand for skins is associated with luxuryuse and a potential consumer can come fromany country. Until CITES came into being in the1970s, leopard skin was popular on the fashioncatwalks and tiger skin rugs were icons ofwealth and status. Today the illegal skin tradecaters for those seeking luxury fur trim ontraditional costumes and for those prepared topay extortionate sums for the ultimate in homedecor.

The criminal networks are able to continue thiscruel trade simply as a result of a lack ofcoordinated and effective enforcement. This isdue to a lack of political will to address theproblem at higher levels and is not due to alack of information about the trade.Intelligence from recent seizures of skinsprovides ample evidence for enforcementofficers to focus on smuggling methods,hotspots, key individuals and trafficking routes.

Tiger and leopard skins are often seized withhuge volumes of otter skins. There are manyaccounts of leopard and otter skin being usedas trim on traditional costumes worn byTibetans,3,4 including whole leopard skins beingsewn into the backs of traditional costumesworn by Tibetans in Zorgei market, SichuanProvince, China.

The legal market for skins of some species ofotter can also provide clues to potential markethotspots. Around 10 otter pelts are used tomake warm jackets called “bhatta” also sold inTibet5. Thai leather factories also reportedly use

otter skin for jackets,6 and there is a hugemarket for legal otter skin in China withthousands being imported from NorthAmerica7.

Questions persist concerning the finaldestination of tiger skins. Raids on the housesof the wealthy elite in India8 and China9 reveala continuing desire among such circles for tigerskin rugs. Traders in Lhasa have told EIA thatwhole tiger skins are sold to wealthy Chinesevisitors from Beijing and Hong Kong fordecorative use in their homes. Whole leopardskins are also sold out of backrooms in Lhasato wealthy Chinese and European clients.

Many of the skins seized have been expertlytanned and cured so that they can be foldedand smuggled between cloth or wool; notsurprisingly, a large number of seizures havebeen made in Northern India, home tocommunities of skilled tanners.

Buyers, or their representatives, sign or markskins, indicating that they have been pre-selected: they want to ensure that the goodsthey have selected are the ones they receive bycourier. The buyers at the top of the traffickingchain do not take any risks by moving the skinsthemselves. Tibetans are associated with manyof the seizures as couriers and suspected buyers.

The individuals that have been arrested tend tobe the middlemen, the couriers and the tanners.Huge sums of cash are often recovered at thescene, and some of the individuals obtain legalrepresentation from big city lawyers beyondtheir means10, indicating significant financialinfluence behind the trafficking of skins.

Skin seizures have led to the arrest of Nepaleseand Tibetan individuals in India and a numberof Tibetans in Nepal. Mobile phones seizedfrom arrested individuals have revealedtelephone numbers in Nepal that were calledseveral times during a period of major seizuresin India.

Above:Tiger skin rugseized from awealthy individual inIndia.

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Incidents and IntelligenceThis map illustrates some of the key routes used to move skins across the bordersbetween India, Nepal and China. Research in China also suggests that wildlife from Indiaand Nepal is smuggled to Laos, Vietnam and Burma before moving across borders insouthwest China.

The following table is a compilation of seizures involving tiger, leopard, and otter skins in India,Nepal and China during the last five years. Whilst it is by no means comprehensive, it shows thealarming level of illegal animal skin trade in the region. Despite the commendable efforts of theenforcement officers in the relevant agencies, it is likely that these seizures represent a tiny fraction ofthe total illegal trade, with the majority of smuggled skins reaching their intended end market.

Incidents and Intelligence

Key to Map

Known and traditional trade routes forwildlife include via (1) Dharchula, (2) Taklakot,(3) Gyriong, (4) Tatopani, (5) Sikkim, (6) Siliguri.

Wildlife trade enters China via ports inYunnan e.g. (1) Ruili, (2) Wanding, (3) Mengla and(4) Hekou, from Burma, Laos and Vietnam. Wildlifetraders in those three countries have said that thewildlife they trade in often originates from India,Nepal, Cambodia and Thailand.

The three individuals arrested followingthe seizure in Sangsang in 2003 spent two monthsin Shiquanhe and had earlier been caught trying tocross into India. The Ladakh routes used by thetiger bone traders in the early 1990’s appear to bein use again.

Right:The largest ever haulof tiger and leopardskins was made bythe Anti-SmugglingBureau in Tibet,October 2003.

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Map not to scale. Borders not authenticated.

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Date Place Seized

7th Jul 199911 Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China Tiger and leopard skins

8th Jul 199912 Ruili, China Tiger skins and pieces of leopard skin.

7th Aug 199913 Kunming / Ruili, China 11 tiger skins and more than 100 pieces of leopard skins

19th Dec199914,15,16 Ghaziabad, India 3 tiger skins, 50 leopard skins, five otter furs

12th Jan200017,18,19,20,21 Khaga, India

4 tiger skins, 70 leopard skins, 221 otter skins, 18080leopard claws, 132 tiger claws and 175 kg of tiger bones,mobile phones

6th May 200022 Haldwani, India 50 leopard skins

21st May 200023 Haldwani, India 30 leopard skins

21st Mar 200124 Nagpur, India1 tiger skin, 5 tiger skeletons, 10 claws and 3 canine teeth,4 leopard skins

29th Mar 200125 Coimbatore, India 2 tiger skins, 29 leopards skins

27th Apr 200126,27 Kanpur and Lucknow, India24 leopard skins, 1 tiger skin, 10 tiger claws, US$10500cash, pistol

14th May 200128 Allahabad, India 2 tiger skins

29th Jun200129,30,31 Arunachal Pradesh, NE India 3 otter skins

8th Aug 200132 Xiaguan, Yunnan, China 23 tiger skins, 33 leopard skins and 134 sea otter/otter skins

17th Sep 200133,34 Nepal International Airport 3 bags of 359 tiger claws, on route to Thailand

26th Oct 200235 Rayagada, Orissa, India 1 tiger skin

5th Jan 200336,37 Lucknow, India 12 leopard skins, mobile phone, US$10 000 cash

6th Jan 200338 Bhilwara, India 2 leopard skins

11th Feb200339,40,41 Siliguri, India 20 leopard skins and 19 otter skins

3rd Mar 200342 Valmiki, India 2 leopard skins

4th Apr 200343,44,45 Kathmandu, Nepal 109 leopard skins, 14 otter skins

22nd May 200346 Samalkha, India 7 leopard skins and 18 otter skins, on route to Delhi.

27th Jul 200347 Allahabad, India 2 leopard skins. 4 fake tiger skins

8th Oct 200348,49 Sangsang, Tibet AutonomousRegion

31 tiger skins, 581 leopard skins, 778 otter skins, 2 lynxskins, 1 fake tiger skin

20th Apr 200450 Kathmandhu, Nepal 6 leopard skins, pieces of approx 24 leopards & otters

11th Jun 200451 Barota, Sonipat District, India 15 fresh leopard skins, 9 large steel traps, mobile phone

23rd Jun 200452 Katni and Shahdol, India 7 leopard skins

2nd Jul 200453 Kanpur, India 456 leopard and tiger claws and US$13 000

6th Jul 200454 Samalkha, Haryana, India 1 leopard skin

11th Jul 200455 Kathmandu, Nepal 2 tiger skins, 8 leopard skins, 4 sacks of fresh tiger bones

Incidents and Intelligence

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The Himalayan Network

The Himalayan NetworkPoached in IndiaWith around 50 per cent of the world’s wildtigers, India is the chief target for the skintraders. According to the Wildlife ProtectionSociety of India (WPSI), between 1994 and2003 there have been 784 cases where the skinsof tiger, leopard or otter have been seized. Over1400 individuals have been accused inconnection with these cases, yet WPSI can findonly 14 records of convictions and sentencing.A further 22 individuals have subsequently beencaught re-offending.

Between 1994 and 2003, WPSI documented thepoaching and seizure of 684 tigers, 2336leopards and 698 otters in India alone. Theseseizures and documented poaching incidentsrepresent only a small percentage of the totalillegal trade.56

No one has been convicted for the massiveKhaga seizure of 2000, despite the fact that thisis India’s largest seizure to date. Furthermorethis incident provided direct leads to tradersand middlemen in Nepal, further substantiatedby the Kanpur and Lucknow seizures of 2001.

Available evidence from such seizures pointstowards a tight group of individuals deeplyinvolved in procuring and trafficking skins. Asimple link analysis of events can throw lighton possible connections between theindividuals. The diagram opposite takes aretrospective look at known events.Enforcement authorities in India have access tothis same information and could piece it

together in a similar fashion if they wanted toidentify individuals and routes for targetedaction.

As professional agencies they would have accessto the details of police records and photographsof these individuals and could verify theconnections between them to a greater extent.

The information available from the seizuresprovides sufficient detail for enforcementofficers in India to launch in-depthinvestigations and track the key traders down.Apart from traders known as Tamang Tseringand the elusive Tashi and Tamding Khamba,Sansar Chand appears to remain active in thetrade despite having been recently convictedand sentenced to five years imprisonment forwildlife trade offences.

Now out on bail Chand allegedly remainsinvolved in the trade. An individual who wasarrested in Haryana in June 2004 with 15 freshleopard skins stated that he was to deliver themto Chand in Delhi and that this was the secondconsignment in six months.57

The main suspect in the Khaga case, ShabbirHasan Qureshi, also remains at liberty topursue his illegal activities and has beenimplicated by a trader caught with sevenleopard skins in Madhya Pradesh in June2004.58 In July 2004 one of Qureshi’s premiseswas raided and 456 tiger and leopard clawswere recovered along with approximatelyUS$13 000 in cash.59

Right:The largest seizurein India of tiger andleopard skins tookplace in Khaga 2000:4 tiger skins, 70leopard skins, 221otter skins, 18 080leopard claws, 132tiger claws and175kg of bone wasseized

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Lucknow 2003, 12leopard skins andUS$10 000 were seized.Tamang Tsering, thoughout on bail following theKanpur and Lucknowseizures of 2001, wasarrested.

The Ghaziabad 1999consignment was sentfrom Allahabad to Delhi,booked by SarfarazAhmed. It was booked togo on to Siliguri, byRajesh Kumar and MotiLal,60,61 Informationprovided leads to the2000 Khaga seizure.62

Some of the Khaga skinswere being tanned 200metres from the policestation.63 The mainsuspect Shabbir HasanQureshi escaped, but hiswife and father werearrested.

One telephone numberbelonged to a shop thatwas selling Tibetanantiques, includingboxes with tiger andleopard skin on the sidesof them, but has sinceclosed down.71

Belongs to a smallbusiness engaged inpashmina shawlproduction and trade.72

One telephone numberbelongs to the house ofPrem Bhutia Gurung,wanted in associationwith seizures in WestBengal in 1994 and 2003.Some of the skins seizedin 1994 came fromKhaga indicating activityin that area for adecade.73

A number on thepersonal page of TamangTsering / Tsering Atup’sdiary is for a carpetcompany inKathmandu.75

Kanpur and Lucknow2001. Two Nepalesewere arrested, TamangTsering (also callinghimself Tsering Atup andSonam Lama) and GopalGurung. Both individualswere released on bailbut their diaries wereconfiscated.74

One number was calledaround six times duringthe time of the Khagaseizure, registered in thename of Konchok Lama.This telephone numberalso appeared in thediary of Gopal Gurung,arrested during theKanpur and Lucknowseizure.69,70

In 1993, a Tsering AtupTamang of the samecarpet company inKathmandu sent aconsignment of 107kg ofshahtoosh, which wasseized at Delhi airport.Tamang and associatesreportedly “admittedtheir misdeeds”.76

Two Nepalese, Tashialias Wanchoo andTamding Khambabelieved to be the“brains behind theracket” i.e. Ghaziabadand Khaga.66,67

Mobile phonesconfiscated from thearrested individuals atKhaga reveals link tobusinesses andproperties inKathmandu.68

The signature “Tsering”found on skins seized atGhaziabad and Khaga64

was cross-referencedwith the signature ofguests staying in hotelsin Siliguri and Fathepurat the time of theseizures.65 It wasconfirmed that thesignatures on the skinswere the same as that ofa man calling himselfTashi Tsering and thathe was travelling with aman calling himselfTamding Khamba.


The Nepal Connection The skin trade connection between India andNepal is hardly surprising. Until the early1990s Nepal was a major centre for the furtrade, including the skins of endangeredspecies.77 Whilst Kathmandu does not appear tohave the thriving domestic markets for skins itonce had, it is clear that there is still residualdemand for garments made from skins, withforeigners reportedly buying the products.

Recent seizures confirm Kathmandu’s role as akey staging point for illegal skins smuggledfrom India bound for Tibet and China. In April2003, Pasong Chimbel Lama was arrested inKathmandu for trying to smuggle 109 leopardskins and 14 otter skins across the border withTibet. A subsequent raid of his residenceresulted in the recovery of two tigers skins.

According to EIA’s sources, Lama told thearresting authorities that a Tibetan man had

approached him and paid him approximatelyUS$680 to carry the bag containing the leopardand otter skins by bus via Dhading and Gorkadistricts. Lama was to meet the same dealer onthe Tibetan side of the border. Of the skinsseized, 84 of the leopard and 12 of the otterskins were well tanned and had “PAID”stamped on them. Despite the severity of thecrime, the courier, Lama was sentenced to onlytwo years imprisonment and no progress hasbeen made in locating the owner of the skins.

There have been further seizures of tiger andleopard skins in Nepal with four separateincidents in 2004 alone. In March 2004, 15 kmfrom the border with Tibet, seven leopardskins, six otter skins, 165 pieces of leopard andtiger bone and 185 pieces of rhino skin wererecovered by the army from a container truck.78

In April 2004, six leopard skins were seizedfrom a Mr Jampa Lama in Nepalganj on theborder between India and Nepal. Nepaleseofficials working undercover arrested thebuyers of the skins at their workshop inBoudha in the centre of Kathmandu, whereskin sections equivalent to 24 leopards and 12otters were seized.79 In July in the Boudha areaof Kathmandu, a 24-year-old man was arrestedwith two tiger skins, eight leopard skins, foursacks of fresh tiger bones, and a sack of rhinobones and skins.80

India-Nepal LinksEvidence from the Khaga seizure revealed closelinks between the apprehended suspects and agroup of Tibetan businessmen based inKathmandu, mostly engaged in the antiquesand carpet trade. In addition to phone recordsand notebooks from the Khaga, Kanpur andLucknow seizures, the presence of Nepal-basedindividuals in the area at the time of theseizures has been confirmed by witnessstatements and hotel registers.

Right:109 leopard skinsand 14 otter skinswere seized on routeto Tibet fromKathmandu.

Below:Nepal plays a keyrole as a transitcountry for theillegal skin trade.

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Destination China The seizure at Sangsang in Tibet in October2003 of 31 tiger skins, 581 leopard skins and778 otter skins was the single largest seizure ofbig cat skins to date. It revealed the scale of thetrade and confirmed the role of Tibet as a keylocation for the smuggling, distribution and useof these skins.

The skins undoubtedly came from India. Notonly were there Delhi editions of the “Times ofIndia” newspaper stuck to the back of some ofthe skins, the three Tibetans arrested spent twomonths in a town called Shiquanhe in westernTibet, just across the border from Ladakh inIndia. In fact, according to the Anti-SmugglingBureau of Lhasa Customs local police hadearlier stopped the three individuals trying tocross the border illegally into India.82

Enforcement officials working on the case toldEIA that the accused had revealed nothingabout the masterminds behind the trade, yetthey are facing a lengthy sentence: clearly theyfear the crime bosses more than facing the restof their lives in jail as being caught with justone tiger skin carries a penalty of up to 10years imprisonment.

Using these leads EIA travelled to Kathmanduin 2002. Due to the deteriorating securitysituation at that time, EIA investigators weretold that the smuggling of wildlife products,including skins, had subsided as a result ofcheckpoints across the country. EIA also metwith some of the individuals implicated in theKhaga seizure. Although unwilling to discussthe animal skin trade directly, it was obviousthat these people had the connections andability to move goods easily between Nepal andTibet. One individual openly admitted tosmuggling antiques out of Tibet.

Another individual, whilst denying personalinvolvement in the skin trade, did divulge anextensive knowledge of the trade: that thecentres for gathering and distributing the skinsin India are Delhi and Lucknow, that the skinsare destined for Lhasa to be used in trim fortraditional costumes and that the primarysmuggling routes from India are via Ladakhand Shimla, straight into Tibet.

With many seizures taking place between Indiaand Nepal, and Nepal and Tibet, there hadbeen no recent news of the Ladakh route. Yetthis was the route used to smuggle tiger bonesand skin from India in the early 1990s. InAugust 1993, the seizure that woke the worldup to the bone trade took place in Delhi: 287kg of tiger bone, eight tiger skins and 43leopard skins. The arrested individuals werePema Thinley, a Tibetan from Leh in Ladakhand Mohammed Yakub. Thinley confirmed thatthe consignment was to be smuggled to Chinavia Ladakh.81 This is also likely to be the routethat the skins seized in Tibet in October 2003took.

Left:Antiques dealers inKathmandu sellTibetan boxes withleopard skin.

Below:Traditional Tibetancostumes withleopard skin trim onsale in Lhasa.

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The fact that so many skins were smuggled inone truck suggests that the dealers are veryconfident of avoiding detection, perhaps havingused this route on previous occasions. It is notclear how long it would have taken to stockpilethe skins on the Indian side or indeed how theywould have been moved to the border areagiven the terrain. It is an alarming prospect toconsider how many consignments moveundetected given the sheer volume of skinsfound in one truck.

To better understand the market, EIA followedthe skin trail to Lhasa. It was not feasible toconduct a full assessment of the scale andnature of the illegal trade in tiger, leopard andotter skins in Lhasa, but it quickly becameapparent that there are two distinct markets forthe skins destined for Tibet: a local market foruse in traditional garments, and a market forexport of whole skins. Visitors from mainlandChina, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Europereportedly purchase leopard and tiger skins fordecorative use in homes and smuggle them outin personal luggage.

Otter Skin TradeIn Lhasa EIA investigators were also offered whole skins ofsmooth-coated otter (Lutra perspicillata) and Eurasian otter(Lutra lutra) for around US$250 each, with the expert tailorsdemonstrating how they achieve the patterns on the trim ofcoats. The dealers told us that these skins were from India,which means they had been illegally acquired. The skins wereexpertly tanned and had been backed by soft leather andstamped.

The North American species of otter (Lutra canadensis alsoknown as Lontra canadensis) is legally traded under CITES andis very popular with China’s booming fur garmentmanufacturing industry. According to data recorded by theWorld Conservation Monitoring Centre, China imported morethan 160 000 otter skins between 1993 and 2002, with 44 000being imported in 2000 alone.83

The Barkhor area of Lhasa is the main area ofinterest to visiting tourists and is the spiritualheart of the city. At its centre is the JokhangTemple surrounded by a maze of narrow streetsand alleys crammed with shops and stallscatering for tourists and religious pilgrims. Inthis central thoroughfare, EIA observed at leastten shops with traditional costumes trimmedwith otter and leopard skin. Mannequinsdisplaying costumes were positioned on theoutside of the shops with further garmentsclearly visible from the street.

EIA engaged the owners of two different shopsin conversation and confirmed that the skin onthe trim of the garments was genuine leopardand otter skin. As a result of simply showinginterest in the authenticity of the articles, EIAwas taken into backrooms of the shops andoffered whole leopard skins.

In one store the skin was well tanned andfolded in a similar fashion to the skins seized inIndia, Nepal and Tibet. The trader offered tosell EIA investigators a whole leopard skin forUS$850, and claimed to have regular trade insuch skins with Chinese and Europeancustomers. He explained that since the skin wasso well tanned it could be folded easily and putinto a suitcase between clothes and would notbe detected by x-ray machines. This particulartrader also had a tiger skin but insisted that itwould be too expensive for tourists to buy,adding that buyers of tiger skins are wealthyChinese customers prepared to pay up toUS$10 000, with the skins being used to drapeacross chairs or as rugs and wall hangings.

Right:Lhasa appears to bea major destinationand distributionpoint for illegalskins.

Box:Eurasian andsmooth-coated otterskins for sale inLhasa.

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Seizures in the Yunnan Province of China alsosuggest that tiger and leopard skins are destinedfor wealthy Chinese cities. In 1999, the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of China’s CustomsAdministration busted a huge wildlife traderacket that was using the postal system todistribute a range of items, including skins.Over the course of a month the Chineseinvestigation led to the seizure of 16 tiger skinsand more than 100 pieces of leopard skin inRuili and Kunming. It was reported that twopost offices had been used to dispatch the skinsto booming cities in southern China.

In 2001 also in Yunnan, officers from the StateForest Administration (SFA) Public SecurityBureau discovered a truckload of 23 tiger skins,33 leopard skins and 134 otter skins andarranged the controlled delivery of the skins tocatch the buyers in Xiaguan (Dali).Contradictory reports suggest the skins wereeither destined for Shanghai or Tibet, or wereintended to be made into “luxury items” andsmuggled out of China. Another major seizureoccurred in the Nujiang area of northernYunnan in 2002, close to the border withBurma, when SFA officials uncovered a cacheof illegal animal skins, including leopard andtiger.

An insight into the final destination of wholeskins was provided by the revelationssurrounding a massive corruption case in FujianProvince. In 1999 enforcement officials

swooped on a smuggling ring in the city ofXiamen, but the ringleader had already fled.When his vast assets were seized and auctioned,one of the lots was a whole tiger skin rug,found at one of the fugitive’s palatial homes. Itis safe to assume that many more such skinsadorn the homes of China’s wealthy elite.84

In addition to tiger and leopard skins movinginto China directly from India or via Nepal,researchers from the Chinese Academy ofSciences reported that wildlife entering China inYunnan is moved by traders based in Burma,Vietnam and Laos. The traders interviewed inthese countries stated they are responsible fortrafficking wildlife that originates in India,Nepal, Cambodia and Thailand.85

Worryingly, anecdotal accounts from informedindividuals suggest that there is an increasingdemand for traditional Tibetan costumes withexpensive tiger and leopard skin trim, andcheaper otter trim. Some suggest that this is dueto an increase in Chinese tourists to northernand western regions. This not only brings inmore money but stimulates the proliferation oftraditional dance troupes and shows wheretraditional costumes are modelled. Thesecostumes serve as a status symbol amongstTibetans and there are indications that as theeconomy grows in Tibet demand for cloakstrimmed with tiger leopard and otter skin isincreasing.

Left and above left:Yunnan continues tobe an entry point forwildlife productsinto China.

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This signature, “Tsering”, was found on some of theskins seized in Ghaziabad December 1999 andKhaga January 2000. This was the first time thatsignatures and numbers had been found on thebacks of skins.

The three tiger and 50 leopard skins seized atGhaziabad in December 1999 were wrapped incloth and stuffed in jute bags. They were beingtaken by truck to Siliguri in West Bengal, believedto be heading for Nepal. The consignment wasdiscovered by tax inspectors.

Four tiger and 70 leopard skins were seized atKhaga in January 2000 along with 18 080 leopardclaws and 175kg of tiger and leopard bones. Theskins were well tanned allowing them to be easilyfolded to take up less space.

30 Leopard skins seized in Haldwani in May and 50leopard skins seized in June 2000. Some hadsignatures on the back. The skins seized in Junewere seized from a train from Delhi and werebelieved to be onward bound to Dharchula on theIndo-Tibetan border, by truck.

Map of Seizures

© W

ildlife Protection Society of India

Photo supplied by S. C

. Sharma

Photo supplied by S. C

. Sharma

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12

One tiger skin and 24 leopard skins seized atKanpur and Lucknow in May 2001. One of theNepalese arrested was released on bail and re-arrested in January 2003 in Lucknow with a further12 leopard skins.

20 Leopard and 19 otter skins with markings on theback were seized in Siliguri in February 2003. Oneof the accused individuals in this case, Prem BhutiaGurung, is wanted in association with the seizure ofone tiger skin, 89 leopard skins and nine otter skinsin the same region in 1994. The original policereports from 1994 indicate that some of the skinscame from Khaga, confirming anecdotal informationthat the Khaga operation had been running for overa decade. Gurung’s telephone number was alsorecorded from the mobile phones of the accused inthe Khaga 2000 case.86

The largest ever haul of tiger and leopard skinstook place in Sangsang, just west of Lhasa in Tibetin October 2003. The skins of 31 tigers, 581leopards and 778 otters were recovered from onetruck. Three Tibetans were arrested. The skinscame from India.

109 Leopard skins and 14 otter skins in Kathmanduin April 2003 were destined by bus to the borderwith Tibet.

13

Map of Seizures©

EIA

© A

nti-Smuggling B

ureau Custom

s Adm

inistration China

© N

orth East Society for the P

rotection of Nature

© W


Map not to scale. B

orders not authenticated.

The Profit Motive

Snow Leopard SkinNo one really knows how many snow leopardsremain in the wild and figures range from 3500to 7000. Its fur was valued by the fashionindustry95 until it was listed on Appendix 1 ofCITES in 1975. Snow leopard skin is used tomake clothing and is used as wall hangings in anumber of the snow leopard range states,including Kazahkstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia andXinjiang Autonomous Region in China.96 Despitethe CITES listing the commercial value isgrowing again and the markets are spreading.

In May 1999, 17 snow leopard pelts wereconfiscated in Lianjiang County of FujianProvince, believed to be destined for markets inTaiwan and Hong Kong.97 The German NatureConservation Society reports that in 2000 aGerman traveller on route to Songpan inSichuan Province saw snow leopard fur for saleat roadside markets. The sellers told her the furswere popular with Japanese buyers. InKyrgyzstan in February 2002, one man wasarrested for selling a snow leopard skin forUS $1500.98 Reports in 2003 stated that snowleopard skins were being sold in Afghanistan toforeign aid workers for up to US$1000 and werealso being sold in the Middle East.99

The Profit Motive The market for skins is diffuse and driven by ademand for high value luxury products. Notconfined to markets in China, there are reportsof seizures of skins elsewhere, including a rangeof endangered cat species.

Big cats are poisoned, shot and snared atrelatively little cost. Poachers are usually poorwith little alternative means of income and arepaid small sums of money for obtaining theskin. Sometimes these animals are killed as aresult of livestock predation and the body parts

are kept in case of the opportunity to sell.As the illicit skins move up the commoditychain, from poacher to trader, the potentialprofits increase dramatically. Although thecouriers and middlemen receive more than thepoachers, the real money is made by the tradersat the top of the chain, who direct thesmuggling syndicates and have the links to thebuyers. These criminals are adept at takingadvantage of the high profit and low risknature of the skin trade. The value of the Tibetseizure of 31 tigers, 581 leopards and 778otters was US$1.2 million.87 In 1999 Nepalesepolice reported that tiger skins sold for betweenUS$266-1300, leopard skins for US$66-266and otter skins for US$15-55.88

In Tibet EIA was told that a tiger skin wasworth US$10 000, leopard skin was offered for$850 and otter skin was valued at US$250.Various articles on skin seizures in Chinesenewspapers report the following market valuesUS$14 200 for 100 otter skins seized in Ruili,Yunnan; and US$450089 for skin and bones ofone tiger seized in Yunnan.

In Sumatra in August 2004, a poaching andskin trading gang of five people, believed to beresponsible for the trading of the skins andbones of 60 tigers during the last ten years weresentenced to six years imprisonment and fineda total of US$7750.90

In late 2003 a series of raids by the Thai RoyalForest Police uncovered a gruesome trade in themeat of captive bred tigers. In one incident inNonthaburi Province six live tigers, 22kg oftiger meat and 48kg of tiger bones wererecovered from a house along with otherspecimens of wildlife. Reports suggest that thecontraband was bound for restaurants inChina, while others suggested the destinationwas Chinatown in Bangkok.91

The Middle East is also reportedly a skin andfur trade market. In 2000 there were reports oftiger skins openly for sale in Dubai, UnitedArab Emirates, for less than US$250, thoughimages associated with the reports suggest theskins were fakes.92 In July 2004 news fromJeddah, Saudi Arabia, reported that leopardskins were available for US$2700 - $4000.93

It appears that the Asian leopard is not the onlytarget of the skin traders, but African leopardsas well. In South Africa in July 2004, 58leopard skins were seized from a Mozambicandealer. According to reports an officer from theSouth African Police said the skins werebelieved to have a value of over US$7000.94

© E

IA/W

SPA

14

The Enforcement Imperative

15

The EnforcementImperativeThe skin trade is characterised by the resilienceof sophisticated networks of criminals whoseoperations appear to withstand the isolatedseizures that punctuate their otherwise smoothbusiness affairs. The syndicate leaders havemoney and influence and appear to be ruthlessenough to ensure that none of their tanners orcouriers talks freely when arrested. With theprofits they stand to make, and in the absenceof targeted enforcement, they can afford to riskmoving large consignments of high valuecontraband.

Whilst India, Nepal and China should becommended for the seizures they have made,they, and the rest of the internationalcommunity, cannot ignore the fact that the skintrade is spiralling out of control and thatrenewed efforts to cooperate on enforcementare essential.

EIA is aware that China made attempts tocommunicate with India and Nepal followingthe seizure in Tibet in October 2003. EIA isalso aware that India attempted tocommunicate with China about the issue anumber of months later. Yet there are majorblockages to efficient intelligence flows betweenthese key countries especially with regard tocontextual information and active leads. WhileIndian enforcement officials have a hazyunderstanding of end markets for the skins,their Chinese counterparts are not fullyinformed of the methods of poaching and oftanning the skins of tigers and leopards. Thismeans that the bigger picture is vague, andopportunities to break up smuggling operationsare lost.

Despite the existence of channels forcommunication, including the CITES TigerEnforcement Task Force, Interpol, and theWorld Customs Organisation, it is clear thatnew mechanisms are required. The individualsresponsible for pursuing wildlife crime needcentralised contacts in each country with whomthey can communicate swiftly and with whomthey can coordinate cross-border operations.

At a domestic level, it is essential for wildlifecrime to be treated seriously enough to ensure

Above:Over a thousandAsian leopard skinshave been seized inthe last five years.

Left:The CITESSecretariat SeniorEnforcement Officerobserved leopardskin for sale inLhasa in 2003.

© C

ITE

S Secretariat

© R

obin Ham

ilton

that enforcement agencies have the authority,resources and skills to tackle wildlife crimeeffectively. This requires political support andacknowledgement of the gravity of wildlifecrime.

Following a series of CITES Technical Missionsto a number of tiger range and consumer statesin 1999, including India, Nepal and China, theCITES Parties accepted that the creation ofspecialised enforcement units were an effectiveway of concentrating and dedicatingenforcement efforts to combat wildlife crime.

After subsequent CITES Political Missions in2000, India was singled out as the Party inmost desperate need of a more coordinatedenforcement approach, given that it is home toapproximately 50 per cent of the world’sremaining tigers and following the revelationssurrounding the seizure in Khaga in January2000.

India accepted the CITES Technical andPolitical Mission recommendations regardingenforcement and participated in the CITESTiger Enforcement Task Force meetings, whereIndia helped draft the guidelines for the

structure and operation of specialisedenforcement units.

Among the key elements of these guidelines isthe recommendation that specialisedenforcement units are multi-agency units,thereby maximising access to different skillsand resources, covering intelligence gatheringand analysis, investigations, enforcement andprosecution. Through these units, coordinatedactivities could target known networks androutes and cooperate with internationalcounterparts to tackle the cross-border trade.

Despite India’s involvement in this process andthe commitments they have made at successiveintercessional CITES meetings India has still notestablished a unit that can combat wildlifecrime effectively.

At the root of this is the fundamental failure ofthe government to treat wildlife crime seriously.Resource-constrained enforcement authoritiesare unable to dedicate proactive operations totackling wildlife crime. Instead operations arereactive with seizures taking place by chance orwhen information has been provided by NGOs.When the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)


Below:The Khaga seizure inIndia, January 2000,illustrated the needfor a specialisedenforcement unit inIndia.

© Fatepur Forest D

epartment

16


17

was asked to take on wildlife crime casesfollowing the Khaga seizure there was aglimmer of hope. Unfortunately, whilst wildlifecrime is still under the remit of one of the CBI’sunits, it is not a priority. As a result, only afraction of the trade is curtailed and theenforcement activity is clearly insufficient todisrupt the criminal networks. Opportunities tobreak-up poaching and trading rings in anymeaningful way have been squandered.

Out of the 748 cases in India where the skinsof tigers, leopards or otters have beenconfiscated, there have been only 14convictions. India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act1972 was recently amended to increase thepenalties faced by tiger and leopard skintraders from one to seven years imprisonmentwith a minimum fine of US$108 to three toseven years imprisonment with a minimumUS$216 fine. For subsequent offences the finerises to a minimum of US$540. Propertyderived from illegal trade can also beconfiscated.100

In Nepal the government’s attention is divertedto matters of civil unrest. Yet, as a Party toCITES, Nepal has a duty to meet its obligationsand stop international illegal trade. The lack ofcooperation between India and Nepal to crackdown on known traders is a gaping hole intheir strategy. In 1999, Nepal was in theprocess of preparing adequate legislation toimplement CITES and its progress will bereviewed by the CITES Standing Committeeimmediately prior to the 13th Meeting of theConference of Parties to CITES. Penalties forillegally killing tigers and snow leopards andtrading in their “trophies”, carries a fine ofbetween US$670 – 1350 and a prison term offive to fifteen years, or both.101 Killing orinjuring other protected wildlife carries a fineranging from US$540 – 950 and a prison termof one to ten years, or both. Tiger, snowleopard, clouded leopard and leopard catappear on Schedule I of Nepal’s legislation;leopard and otter do not.

In China, coordinated operations, “Kekexili”,“Southern No.2” and “Eagle” throughout thecountry have led to the confiscation of hugevolumes of illegal wildlife in the south and theeast, but the skin trade appears to continueundeterred. EIA is aware that in 2000, Chinawas in the process of establishing a CentralEnforcement Committee to bring together theCITES Management Authority officials,Customs and Public Security Bureaurepresentatives from the Forest Administration,the Wildlife Protection Department and thePolice.102 Having provided wildlife crimeintelligence on the ivory trade to the CITESManagement Authority for action, EIA can

testify that the system has the capacity to work.

The findings of EIA’s visit to Tibet indicate thatmore pro-active enforcement is required atairports and border crossing areas as well as inthe local shops. China has the capacity, and hasshown the willingness, to cooperate with Indiaand Nepal over the skin trade. Practicalmeasures to facilitate improved cooperationand communication should be supported at thehighest level.

Penalties in China for wildlife crime are severe,with possession of just one tiger skin carrying amaximum sentence of 10 years in prison, finesup to ten times the value of the seized itemsand confiscation of income derived from thetrade.103 Yet despite the value of such a strongdeterrent the trade in skins continues. Greaterefforts are needed to inform the public of thepenalties associated with the possession ofillegal skins and markets where skins areknown to be sold need to be policed moreeffectively.

BelowIndia, Nepal andChina need toimprovecommunication andcross-bordercooperation to breakup the organisedcriminal networkscontrolling the tradein skins.

© R

obin Ham

ilton

Enforcement In The Himalayan Region

18

Enforcement In TheHimalayan RegionThe regions where the skin smugglers ply theirtrade are some of the most inhospitableenvironments on Earth and pose a uniquechallenge to enforcement agencies. The India-Nepal border is notoriously porous, with allmanner of contraband smuggled through isolated,lawless areas and thriving towns like Birganj. In2000, EIA documented large amounts of illegalozone-depleting chemicals crossing from Nepalinto India. Yet a subsequent crackdown on thistrade shows effective action is possible where thewill exists.

The borders between India and Nepal with Tibetare even more challenging to control. Ancienttrade routes criss-cross the region, often littlemore than pathways leading through isolatedmountain passes. In such a difficult environmentthe use of intelligence and specialised equipmentbecomes all the more important.

There are indications that China and India arepreparing to expand border trade at a number oflocations, such as the Sikkim-Tibet area. It is vitalthat such trade agreements incorporate structuresfor better cooperation between the two countries’customs authorities and other enforcementagencies.

In 1995 China’s Minister for Environment,Science and Technology and India’s Minister ofEnvironment and Forests signed the 1995 Sino-Indo Protocol on Tiger Conservation. Top of thelist is the need for joint operations to combat tigertrade. The Protocol is automatically reviewedevery five years unless terminated in writing. EIAis not aware of the agreement having beencancelled, unfortunately it also appears theagreement has not progressed beyond paper.

In 1996 India and China signed anotheragreement on the cooperation of combating thetrafficking of narcotics and other crimes between

the two countries. It is not clear if wildlife trade isincluded in this. In June 2003 the governments ofIndia and China signed a number of otheragreements, including a Memorandum ofUnderstanding on closer cooperation in thejudiciary. It is to be hoped that similar high-levelbilateral agreements between professionalenforcement agencies can be formulated tocombat the illegal wildlife trade between the twocountries.

Despite these challenges, it is not clear why theexisting mechanisms for communicatinginformation and cooperating on enforcementbetween India, Nepal and China have failed. Itcould be that representatives from each countrychange and the CITES Tiger Enforcement TaskForce contact details are not kept up to date.Perhaps there are diplomatic hurdles preventingofficers in one country being able to simply pickup the phone to an officer in another.

At a domestic level it is necessary for the Partiesto designate points of contact, which shouldideally be the specialised enforcement units whoare dedicated to wildlife crime. In the absence ofpermanent enforcement personnel working on theillegal trade it is difficult for Interpolrepresentatives to know who to disseminateinformation to when they receive it.

The CITES Enforcement Expert Working Groupraised similar issues at its meeting in February2004. In a statement to the 50th Meeting of theCITES Standing Committee they drew attention tothe increased involvement of organised crime inthe international illegal trade in wildlife, notingthat this must be dealt with by professional lawenforcement officers. The experts also called uponCITES Parties to “recognize the seriousness ofillegal trade” and that it should be treated as “amatter of higher priority for their national lawenforcement agencies.”104

Below:Illegal skins aresmuggled alongancient trade routesbetween India Nepaland Tibet.

© G

erald Yang/E

IA

Conclusions• Tiger and Asian leopard populations are

under increasing threat across their rangefrom the demand for skins.

• Huge seizures over last five years havewarned of the emergence of the skin trade asa major threat to tigers and leopards.

• The largest ever haul of tiger and leopardskins, which occurred in Tibet in October2003, revealed the true extent of this tradeand the frightening proportions it hasreached.

• The vast wealth of intelligence derived fromthese seizures indicates that there is asophisticated network of criminalmasterminds controlling the trade in urbanand cross-border areas.

• The criminal networks have not beendisrupted by the seizures that have takenplace.

• There has been a failure by governments tomeet this menace with the commensurateresources and determination required to breakthe networks and convict those in charge.

• Two markets for skins have been identifiedbut not quantified: one is the use of skins todecorate traditional-style costumes availablein Tibet, Qinghai and Xinjiang, the other isthe purchase of skins for luxuryornamentation by wealthy Chinese andEuropean customers.

• There has been a lack of cross-bordercooperation between India, Nepal and Chinato coordinate enforcement operations.

• There has been a lack of political will inIndia, Nepal and China to treat wildlife crimeseriously and to develop new mechanisms tocombat the trade, despite CITESrecommendations.

• Professional enforcement agencies are underrepresented at meetings of CITES.

EIA Recommends that:• The 13th Meeting of the Conference of

Parties to CITES adopt a Decision directingthe CITES Tiger Enforcement Task Force todevelop mechanisms for improvingcommunication and cross-border cooperationto stop the illegal trade in Asian Big Catskins.

• The Parties to CITES should provide financialassistance to facilitate a meeting of the CITESTiger Enforcement Task Force to launchefforts to stop the skin trade.

• India, Nepal and China establish effectivemulti-agency enforcement units that have theauthority, resources, skills, experience anddedication to gather and analyse intelligence,conduct investigations and implementmeaningful enforcement against the criminalnetworks controlling the skin trade in urbanand cross-border areas.

• India, Nepal and China explore thepossibilities for using existing, or signing new,bilateral agreements to combat wildlife tradeand work together to detect, arrest andprosecute the heads of the networksresponsible for trafficking tiger and otherAsian Big Cat skins between the threecountries.

• China’s Central Enforcement Committee, incooperation with Ministry of Commerceofficials, should organise a sweep of marketsin Tibet, Qinghai and Xinjiang to confiscateall tiger, leopard and illegal otter skins andgarments comprised of such skins.

• China should increase luggage inspections atmajor airports in Tibet, Qinghai and Xinjiangand place posters informing travellers of theillegality of buying tiger, leopard and illegalotter skins and stating the penalty for illegalpossession.

• The international community should provideassistance in producing materials andgenerating greater awareness among thecommunities using tiger and leopard skins astrim on traditional costumes and among thewealthy elite using skins for luxury decor.

• The international community should providetechnical and financial assistance to India,Nepal and China to facilitate theimplementation of new enforcementmechanisms to combat the skin trade.

Conclusions & Recommendations

19

References1. German Society for Nature Conservation (NABU), “The Illegal Trade in

Snow Leopards – A Global Perspective”, October 2002

2. Beijing Youth Daily, “Serially numbered notes revealed secret. Where dothousand of precious skins come from?”, 14/02/04

3. China Exploration and Research Society, “Wildlife survey by Wong HowMan and Bill Bleisch – Bill Bleisch’s Field Journal”, 1998, as quoted athttp://www.khamaid.org/about_kham/articles/bleischjrn.htm

4. Fred Lane, “The Warrior Tribes of Kham”, 1994

5. Mangal Man Shakya, www.citesnepal.org

6. Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), “Otters on Mt. Kailash”, quoted in TheHindu, 26/01/03

7. UNEP WCMC Trade Database

8. Bombay Environmental Action Group, Pers. Comm., 2001

9. Time, “Smugglers Blues”, 14/10/02

10. CITES Tiger Political Mission Team, Doc 11.30 (Rev), 2000

11. TRAFFIC Bulletin Vol 18. No. 1, 1999

12. Associated Press, “China Busts Rare Species Smugglers”, 08/07/99

13. Environment News Service, 09/09/99

14. TRAFFIC Bulletin Vol 18, No. 2, 2000

15. EIA, “Khaga Cat Skin Seizure”, 2000

16. Moti Lal vs CBI and ANR, Case No. 476 of 2002, Judgement InformationSystem

17. Indian Express, “18,000 leopard claws stare in Govt face; Greens shocked”14/01/00

18. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) Pers. Comm., 2000

19. EIA, 2000, op. cit.

20. TRAFFIC, 2000, op. cit.

21. Police First Information Report, Fatehpur, 12/01/00


23. ibid

24. ibid

25. ibid

26. ibid

27. Police First Information Report, Kanpur, 29/04/01


29. Ecology Asia News Archives “Foreign poachers caught in India”, 29/06/01

30. Natures Beckon, “NGO-Govt Coordination a must to bring downpoaching in NE”, 22/06/01

31. Indian Jungles, “Chinese link to wildlife crime in N-E India”, 29/06/01

32. Wan Ziming, China CITES Management Authority, Pers. Comm., 26/11/01

33. Confidential source

34. Nepal News.com, “Tiger Claws Recovered”, 2001

35. Janmanch Press Release, “Tiger Killed in Rayagada District”, 2002

36. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), Pers. Comm., 2003 news article

37. ADG Police, Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force quoted by Press Trust ofIndia “12 leopard skins seized. Gang smuggling animal skins busted”,07/01/03

38. Sharma, B.K., “Convicted”, Sanctuary Asia, June 2004

39. North East Society for the Protection of Nature (NESPON), Pers. Comm.,2003

40. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), 2004, op. cit.

41. Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), “Major seizure of wildlife articles made inSiliguri”,http://www.wildlifetrustofindia.org/html/news/2003/030212_seizure.htm


43. Police First Information Report, Kathmandu, 04/04/03


45. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) News 08/03/04http://www.wpsi-india.org/news/08042003.php


47. ibid

48. Beijing Youth Daily, 2004, op. cit.

49. Chinese Customs Administration, Pers. Comm., 2004

50. Environment News Service,”Wildlife Trade Racket Busted in Nepal”,29/04/04

51. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) 2004, op. cit.52. ibid

53. ibid

54. ibid

55. ibid

56. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) 2004, op. citt

57. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) News Release 12/06/04



60. Cat News Vol.37 Autumn 2002

61. Indian Express, “Situation Report: Wildlife”, 13/07/02

62. TRAFFIC India, quoted in EIA “Khaga Cat Skin Seizure”, January 2000

63. Mr KN Singh, Wildlife Inspector (Northern Region), quoted in “The KhagaCat Skin Seizure”, EIA, 22/03/00

64. EIA, 2000, op. cit.


66. Central Bureau of Investigation Intelligence Digest, “Absconding accusedarrested by CBI”, 2002

67. Cat News, 2002, op. cit




71. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) 2000, op. cit.

72. EIA Investigation 2002

73. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) 2004, op. cit.

74. ibid

75. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) 2001, op.cit

76. Tibet Network News, “Dharamsala Responds to Shahtoosh Allegations”,16/05/94

77. TRAFFIC, “Fur Trade in Kathmandu: Implications for India”, Joanna VanGruisen and Toby Sinclair, 1992

78. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) quoted in Save The RhinoInternational, News Archives, 2004

79. Environment News Service,”Wildlife Trade Racket Busted in Nepal”,290404


81. World Tibet Network News, “Record seizure of tiger bone; Tibetan refugeeand Indian arrested”, 1/9/93

82. Beijing Youth Daily, 2004 op. cit.

83. UNEP WCMC Trade Database

84. Time, 2002, op. cit.

85. Wang Zhijun, Chen Huojie, Wu Delin. “The Status on Live Wildlife TradeNear the Port Areas in Yunnan”, in: Conserving China's Biodiversity (II)(PETER Johan Schei, WANG Sung and XIE Yan eds.), China EnvironmentalScience Press, 1996.

86. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) pers comm 2003

87. Beijing Youth Daily, 2004, op. cit.88. Mangal Man Shakya, Colin Pringle, Chris Murgatroyd, CITES Compliance

in Nepal, 1999

89. Qianlong News Network, Oct 2002

90. Sumatran Tiger Conservation Program, 09/08/04

91. AFP, 29/10/03

92. Gulf News 05/12/00

93. Arab News 23/07/0494. Daily News, 30/07/04

95. UNEP WCMC Data Sheets http://www.unepwcmc.org/index.html?http://www.unepwcmc.org/species/data/species_sheets/snow.htm~main

96. NABU, 2002, op. cit

97. Wen Bo, “Illegal Trade of Snow Leopards in China: An Overview” 2002,quoted at http://www.snowleopard.org/islt/pdf_bin/wen_bo_illegal_trade.pdf

98. NABU, 2002, op. cit.

99. BBC News 14/08/03

100. Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and Wildlife Amendment Act 2002

101. Wildlife Conservation Act of 1973

102. CITES Tiger Political Mission Team, CoP 11 Doc 11.30 (Rev), 2000

103. CITES Tiger Technical Mission Team, SC 42 Doc 42.10.4, 1999

104. CITES Enforcement Expert Group, SC 50 Inf. 6, 2004

References

20

AcknowledgementsThis report was researched and written byDebbie Banks and Julian Newman. Editedby Julian Newman. Picture research and

report design by Joaquim Pereira.

EIA would like to sincerely thank thegenerosity of the Barbara Delano

Foundation and the Ernst and KleinwortCharitable Trust who made this work

possible.

Special thanks to Nick Mole, friends andcolleagues in India, Nepal and China fortheir invaluable assistance in researching

this report.

Many thanks to Brian Emmerson and allat Emmerson Press for the printing of this

report. Emmerson Presswww.emmersonpress.co.uk

All information in this report may bereproduced for use as public educationproviding written credit is given to the

Environmental Investigation Agency. Thereport itself and photos may not be

reproduced without the prior writtenapproval of a director of EIA Ltd.

EIA has taken care to ensure the accuracyof the information in this report. Wewelcome comments, updates and new

information on the skin trade. Please sendto Debbie Banks at EIA UK.

Printed on recycled paper.

The Environmental Investigation Agency(EIA) is an independent, international

campaigning organization committed to investigating and exposing environmental

crime. Since 1984, EIA has used pioneeringinvestigative techniques all over the world to

expose the impact of environmental crime andto seek lasting solutions. EIA’s aims are to:

• Stop illegal trade in endangered species

• Gain lasting protection for species under threat

• Protect the shared environment of manand wildlife.


Acknowledgements

21

EIA UK62-63 Upper Street

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