NCJ Number
227263
Journal
Global Crime Volume: 10 Issue: 1-2 Dated: February-May 2009 Pages: 124-143
Date Published
February 2009
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study examined the Chinese black market for tiger products.
Abstract
Findings reveal that because poaching of tigers is profitable, organizations are able to procure, transport, and sell tiger products over thousands of miles and international borders. China is responsible for much of the demand for tiger parts; the demand for tiger parts has strong cultural and medicinal influences. Organizations responsible for poaching are arranged so as to minimize production and transaction costs. The reality is that conservation policy towards tigers remains poorly informed because knowledge of this black market is very incomplete. It appears to be organized along the supply chain to meet the critical transaction costs it faces. This makes it doubtful that the India/Nepalese/Tibetan nexus can be generalized to the entire black market within China, and it is also doubtful that the formal traditional Chinese medicine sector provides the vehicle for the distribution of tiger parts in China. There are enormous challenges in finding information on small, secretive networks; the effective deterrence of tiger poaching is going to require a better understanding of the Chinese black market. Figures