The Tiger

This is a highly contentious issue. It has been for a very long time. It affects tiger conservation dramatically. A research study published in 2008 provides us with some information about the attitudes of Chinese people living in China about eating bits of tiger and using Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) tiger products and the effect on conservation. Traditional Chinese Medicine tiger products which are hugely damaging to tiger conservation. Image: WWF The scientists surveyed 1,880 residents from six Chinese cities. In summary the results are as follows: 43% had consumed some products that were said to contain tiger parts (this points to the fact that some of these products may not have genuinely contained tiger parts but were sold as containing them) 71% of the respondents said they preferred wild products over farmed ones. This means that they believe that eating the body parts of wild tigers was more beneficial to them than eating the body parts of farmed tigers. You properly kno...

Traditional Chinese medicine is a major contributor to making the tiger extinct in the wild and the President of the country, Xi Jinping, supports and praises the medicine despite it being based on ancient superstitions. He thinks that it a good thing. But ancient medicine is bad medicine. Medical knowledge has grown hugely but traditional Chinese medicine is rooted in the past when there was little knowledge. It is therefore a fake medicine. It was first used in around 2,200 years ago when the world was relatively ignorant. It still bloody well is. Horrible, degrading tiger farms. Completely disrespectful of the magnificent tiger. Image in public domain. Peoples of the world have a duty to respect the cultures of others. Yes, I agree but not if that culture severely damages the planet and the animals that live on it. When this happens, we have a duty to criticise and try and change a deviant culture. One of the great problems of modern-day people is that some cultures are rooted in id...

COMMENT ON NEWS: Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and China appear to be the big four countries where tigers are abused the most but in Europe we can add France. I was surprised. The news goes against the grain or our perceptions of France as a civilised country. And they like to believe that they are more civilised than any other country.  France allegedly involved in abusive tiger trade. Photo: Pixabay. An organisation called 'Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project' have concluded that 'France is home to a booming tiger trade'. They refer to an article by Oxpeckers - 'Investigative Environmental Journalism'. Oxpeckers say that tigers are big business in France. It looks like France is leading the way in Europe on big animal abuse. The po-faced holier-than-thou French who love bureaucracy because it makes them more civilised (they think) are showing their true colours in allowing this abuse of the world's most iconic animal. The more iconic an animal is...

Bottle of tiger bone wine. Photo: PoC. Hundreds of different, almost always, medicinal uses are made of various parts of the tiger's body. Here are some examples. The fat is thought to be a tonic for rheumatism; The fat is prized as an aphrodisiac; The flesh gives courage and strength to those who eat it; The floating collarbone or clavicle is believed to be a powerful charm against evil; The heart is eaten to give strength, courage and cunning; The brain is mixed with oil and rubbed on the body to cure laziness and acne; The penis is meant to be a sexual tonic; The skin is valued as a trophy and can be worn as clothing as a symbol of wealth; The bones are a treatment of ulcers, malaria, typhoid, dysentery, burns, arthritis and rheumatism; The bones are also a treatment for impotence and a lowered libido; The humerus bone i.e. the upper front leg bone has the most potent of all healing powers. The bones are ground down to a powder. Then, used in pills, plasters and as a part of rem...

Even today in Asia tiger body parts are still extensively used by people to improve their well-being or status, or so they believe. The Chinese are particularly involved with this. The body parts are also often used in Chinese traditional medicine. However, you can go back a very long way indeed throughout history to see how humankind's reverence and admiration of the tiger has often been its demise. It is very odd that animals that people admire end up being killed by people because humankind likes to possess or eat a piece of that animal thinking that it benefits them. Tiger clavicle bone as a brooch. Photo: Tennants Auctioneers. For example, the tiger clavicle bone was often turned into a brooch. You can see one in the photograph above. This particular brooch is mounted in gold metal with a pin fastener. It is 7.5 cm long. A very small bone for such a very large predatory animal. This is because its reduced size allows the tiger to stride longer and therefore move faster....