“Although the international trade in tigers has been prohibited since 1975 when they were classified as an Appendix I species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), tigers continue to be bred in legal and illegal captive facilities – otherwise known as tiger farms. In 2020, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) estimated that Asia was home to 8,000 captive tigers, with 306 facilities in China, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam……Although China has its own tiger farms, Operation Ambush has demonstrated that it is well-serviced in tigers, parts and products by organised crime groups in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam. While Vietnam’s illegal trade is generally supplied by tigers and parts from Thailand and Lao PDR and underground tiger farms in Vietnam, it is also supported by skins, bones and canines from Vietnamese-owned South African farms.”
“To skin a cat: how organised crime capitalises and exploits captive tiger facilities,” Wildlife Justice Commission, November 2022
Further Reading
“Year of the Tiger? Big cat farming in South Africa: the need for international action,” Four Paws, January 2022
“Burning bright but fading fast: Tigers illegally exported from SA as lambs for slaughter,” Daily Maverick, 1 February 2022
“Tiger Breeding in South Africa,” IWB, 24 April 2018