Tigers face extinction as China gives poachers 'licence to kill'

Tigers could come closer to extinction after China officially approved the sale of products extracted from the endangered animals, environmental groups have warned.

It is feared a black market will be created for poachers to prey on the rare big cats for illegal 'medical' potions that will be sold in the country.

Tiger tonics, such as wine made from ground bones, are regarded as potent traditional Chinese medicines and fetch an extremely high price on the black market.

Precious: Chinese medicines made from Tiger's bones fetch a high price on the black market

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 it was not widely reported.

The country's officials erased all mention of the document from the internet, apparently amid official concerns of damage to China’s reputation before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

But wildlife monitoring group Traffic, which is linked to the WWF, yesterday said the vast tiger farms in China saw the document as a go-ahead to make tiger bone wine.

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 and make a living as a tourist attraction.

The Chinese official document specifies the trade and use of tiger and leopard skins 'and their products' will be legalised spreading fear that more will be killed illegally.

The skins are traditionally prized among Tibetans to embellish robes for ceremonial occasions.

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.'

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.

Poachers in India are paid as little as £5 for a tiger by traffickers who transport the carcasses to China, usually through Nepal.

Tigers have been used for medicinal purposes in China for thousands of years and a single animal can be worth a fortune. The bones are the most valuable part.

The Indian Government announced last week that it was sending a delegation to China to discuss the plight of the sub-continent’s tigers.