Tigers face the risk of extinction due to poaching, driven by a demand for their parts. While the demand for tiger products in Asia has been well documented, little is known about the demand for tiger products in the US, which is a major market for illegal and legal wildlife. We approach the wildlife trade from a criminological perspective, which suggests that illegal tiger trade is the result of opportunity structures within a built environment. It is therefore possible to reduce the incidents of tiger trade by altering the opportunity structures in a way that makes the crime less rewarding, more risky, and more difficult to commit. We analyze seizures of tigers and tiger products made at US ports of entry, from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Law Enforcement Management Information Systems (LEMIS) database, along with CITES import permits between 2003 and 2012 to characterize the legal and illegal demand of tiger products in the US and identify crime reduction strategies.
Results/Conclusions
A total of 283 CITES permits were granted and 292 seizures of tiger products were made. The purpose of both the legal and illegal imports was largely for personal use, followed by commercial purposes. Export countries of illegally seized tiger products, of which 66% were wild-sourced and 82% were medicinal, are Tiger Range Countries (TRC), and China accounted for the largest source. Demand reduction for US-based consumers of medicinal tiger products could be an important illegal market intervention. More than half of seized tiger products were imported via personal baggage. San Francisco, Dallas, and Atlanta were identified as entry hotspots for illegal imports and where further crime prevention techniques can be targeted. The precise geographic origin of items in the tiger trade remains unknown and it is possible that captive tigers are supplying the US demand for tiger products. Genetic forensics should be employed to determine the source and precise geographic origin of products to inform anti-poaching efforts. The substantial number of seizures suggests a large demand for tiger products in the US and we recommend precautionary regulations of US captive tiger because they could supply illegal parts, as captive tigers have done in other countries.