Smuggled alive and dead: Animals trapped in superstition; trafficking for tiger bone and rhinoceros horn rampant

KOCHI: Some believe that drinking tea and medicines made from crushed tiger bones will give them the strength of a tiger even in this scientific age. Live or dead tigers and their remains are worth gold in the illegal market because of this. Tigers are also hunted for the manufacture of luxury goods. Tiger hunting is most prevalent in countries such as India, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Tigers are also raised and sold in secret sanctuaries in addition to hunting in the forest. Studies say that many wild animals such as the African elephant, rhinoceros, leopard, pangolin and others, are in danger of extinction due to the demand of superstitious people.

There were 100,000 tigers in the world at the beginning of the 20th century. The number had decreased drastically due to hunting by kings and others. Only 5,600 tigers remain. 50 percent of them are in India. The rest are in China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bhutan, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Russia, Nepal, Myanmar, and Indonesia.

An African elephant is poached every 26 minutes. The number of African rhinos has plummeted from 500,000 to 27,990 in a century. Although the number of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the country increased tenfold between 1972 and 2023, there has been no corresponding improvement in wildlife conservation.

At least 322 tigers killed in two years

322 tigers and 938 leopards were killed in India in 2024-25. 76 tigers and 209 leopards were poached.

International market value of a tiger: $50,000

Tigers rescued from poachers between 2000 and 2022: 3,377

Elephants in the world: 1,30,000

Annual wildlife trafficking trade: $7-23 billion (World Animal Foundation estimates)