U.S. may have been responsible for almost half of recent past illegal tiger trade

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A new study shows that the United States probably played a major role in the tiger parts trade. San Francisco, Dallas, and Atlanta are the main entry points for these illegal products.

Less than 5,000 tigers are estimated to remain in the wild. The tiger's decline is caused by illegal trade in tiger parts.

The United States has very little research on tiger trafficking patterns, which used to focus on 13 Asian countries where tigers still roam free. The tiger parts entering the United States from 2003 to 2012 were investigated in the new study.

The data from the US Fish and Wildlife Service shows that there were nearly 300 seizures of tiger parts illegally entering the United States during those years. A study covering the period from 2000 to the present documented 624 seizures of illegal tiger products, but only 6 of them were in the US.

People in the U.S. think that the illegal trade in tiger parts is not that far away. The founder of the non-profit Wild Tiger said that the U.S. is involved in and driving a large portion of the illegal trade. The research will help understand the role of the U.S. in the global tiger trade.

The new data shows that the U.S. is the largest importer of tiger parts, accounting for almost half of global seizures.

The use of digital platforms to trade and pay for illegal wildlife products has increased, and economic prosperity has increased demand, which may lead to an underestimate of the scale of tiger trafficking in the United States. The data doesn't reflect the most recent trends because of the regulations surrounding the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Almost all of the seized parts came from wild tigers. China and Vietnam imported the majority of seized products. A lack of data about the country of origin made it difficult to determine where the tigers were being sold.

The authors propose a number of ways to better monitor the source and trafficking routes to improve policy, enforcement and contribute to the preservation of wild tigers.

San Francisco, Dallas, and Atlanta were the main centers for illegal tiger imports.

They recommend using forensic DNA analysis to determine the origin and source of the illegally traded tiger parts. Finding out where tiger parts came from would give guidance as to where to focus enforcement efforts.

The study's co-author is Sharon Guynup, a journalist and Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Patterns of illegal and legal tiger parts entering the United States over a decade is a piece of information. There is a book titled "10.1111/csp2.622."

The US may have been responsible for almost half of the past illegal tiger trade.

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