A Holy Call to Spare the Tiger

March 7, 2006 — -- Wildlife groups in India are cautiously delighted at Tibetans' enthusiastic response to the Dalai Lama's appeal to stop buying and wearing animal skins in his homeland.

The appeal comes on the heels of a sudden upsurge in the trade of animal skins in Tibet.

"I was stunned to see the rampant use of animal skins by the Tibetans," said New Delhi-based conservationist Belinda Wright, who recently traveled to Tibet's capital, Lhasa.

"They were wearing a traditional costume called the 'chuba' made with tiger, leopard and otter skin," she said. During her trip, she found the skins openly sold on the streets.

Endangered in the Wild, Not on the Streets

Wright and representatives of other wildlife preservation groups then visited the Dalai Lama at his headquarters in Dharamsala at the foothills of the Indian Himalayas and showed him their video footage.

He was appalled to see Tibetans flaunting animal skins when India's tiger population is dwindling to dangerously low levels.

A census in 2002 in India counted 3,642 tigers, but a more recent report said that the tiger population had dropped to just 1,500. This is despite India having 28 special tiger reserves specifically intended to protect the animal.

The Dalai Lama made his appeal in January at Amravati in western India during a special Buddhist prayer -- the Kala Chakra -- that happens only once every 10 years.

Hundreds of thousands of Tibetans from all over the world attended and heard the Dalai Lama say that he was "ashamed" to see Tibetans decorating themselves with skins and furs.

After hearing him denounce the custom, many Tibetans carried the message back to their homeland. All over Tibet, there have been reports of people burning wild animal skins to show their disapproval. If the reports are true, it marks a radical change in attitude.

In recent years, with more disposable income available to them, Tibetans have been wearing animal skins as a status symbol to demonstrate their prosperity.

They are buying tiger skin clothing as expensive gifts for weddings or for their children.

"We are hoping these reports are true," Wright said. "We're excited about it, but we need to see if these burnings are just symbolic and a flash in the pan or something more substantial."

Saving Grace: Dalai Lama?

Valmik Thapar, an Indian tiger expert, has been observing the relentless poaching of the Indian tiger in recent years and its gradual disappearance. In his opinion, if the Dalai Lama's appeal proves to be lasting, then India can start hoping once again that the tiger might be saved.

Wildlife groups knew that poachers in India were killing the tiger and that smugglers were transporting its body parts to China, where they were used in traditional medicine.

Rich Chinese will pay more than $100 for a bowl of tiger penis soup in a restaurant and even higher prices for aphrodisiacs made of tiger bones.

But Indian conservationists had no idea that demand for tiger skins was flourishing in Tibet as well. It was only after the authorities in India seized 19 huge hauls of tiger and animal skins bound for Tibet that they realized the scale of the multimillion-dollar trade.

India ordered a tiger census after reports emerged last March that the entire population of up to 18 tigers at the Sariska tiger sanctuary close to New Delhi had been killed by poachers.

No tigers are left in Sariska, which reinforces wildlife experts' belief that poaching in India has risen dramatically to meet Tibet's growing demand.

"Even if the Tibetans have really stopped buying tiger skins, I don't think we will ever be able to restore the earlier number," said Thapar, a tiger expert. "There is very little chance of the tiger surviving in India."