As you may know, there is a million dollar trade in Asian countries of bones, horns and other body parts of certain animals, including critically endangered creatures such as rhinos and tigers, for example in traditional medicine.

China is one of those big markets, and although there was a ban on the marketing of these items in the country, the veto has just been lifted - and the news is of great concern. According to Gerry Shih of The Washington Post, the ban had been in place for 25 years, but this week the Chinese government decided to stop the buying ban on these products and free trade with some restrictions.

Concern

According to local authorities, the initiative is focused on legalizing the purchase and sale of parts of captive-bred animals and does not include bones, horns and anything from creatures that live in the wild.

However, while the ban on trading in parts of wild animals remains, easing the law with respect to items obtained from specimens bred for medicinal ingredients (because that's why the animals would be bred, right?), And Motivating animal cruelty can have dire consequences for already declining populations, as it will not be so easy to differentiate between “legal” and black market trade.

Worrying News (The Washington Post / Bobby Yip / Reuters)

It is noteworthy that, according to Gerry, when the ban came into force, many practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine began removing rhino horns and tiger bones from their ingredient lists. These materials used to be used to treat problems such as joint inflammation, impotence and fever, but they were replaced with others precisely to prevent hunting of animals.

However, not everyone adhered and the ban made the ingredient values ​​reach astronomical levels. As a result, ranches for the breeding and breeding of tigers and rhinos began to proliferate in China - and conservation groups suspect that the pressure to liberate trade came from the industry behind the ranchers. Sad is not it?

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