Chinese Govt. Authorizes Trade In "Legally" Obtained Tiger Pelts "And Their Products"

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The Chinese State Forestry Administration, which is responsible for wildlife, issued a document allowing trade in legally obtained tiger and leopard skins in December 2007, but with such little fanfare that it barely rated a mention in the domestic media. Almost every reference was subsequently erased from the internet, apparently amid official concerns of damage to China’s reputation before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The alarm was sounded yesterday by Traffic, a wildlife trade monitoring network linked to the WWF. A Traffic official said that the wording of the document was loose enough to allow its possible interpretation by the vast tiger farms in China as a go-ahead to make tiger bone wine.

The document specifies the trade and use of tiger and leopard skins “and their products”. Such pelts are traditionally prized among Tibetans to embellish robes for ceremonial occasions. But it is the three vague words that have sparked anxiety. Xu Hongfa, of Traffic, said: “I think these words could be used as a cover by tiger farmers to make tiger bone wine and they would try to argue that it doesn’t just refer to skins.”

Only about 30 to 40 tigers survive in the wild in China. But about 5,000 live in tiger farms, where they are bred at great speed. Ostensibly the farms are tourist attractions but it is widely believed that their owners hope to use the animals to produce expensive tiger tonics. The income from visitors to the farms would be dwarfed by the profits from sales of tiger bone wine.

India boasts the world’s largest population of tigers in the wild. Indian conservationists believe that the rapid decline in tiger numbers in the country is a direct result of China’s economic rise and the related increase in demand for traditional medicines. The Indian tiger population stood at 1,411 in February last year, according to an official count, down from 3,642 in 2002 and an estimated 40,000 a century ago.

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6819403.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178

Lemme guess... alleged aphrodesiac and/or boner-enhancing properties?

quick innernets check... "The drink, made from tiger corpses soaked in rice wine, is supposed to give relief from various ailments including rheumatism, arthritis and male virility issues."

Haven't the Chinese dudes figured out that by going to such extremes in the pursuit of "relief from male virility issues" that they're sending a message to the women of the world that "Chinese guys can't get it up" on their own? Certainly not something to put on your eHarmony.com.cn page...

Seems a waste of such an impressive animal.