Tiger Bone & Rhino Horn: The Destruction of Wildlife for Traditional Chinese Medicine

310 Pages·2005·3.57 MB·English

by  Richard Ellis

T I G E R B O N E &
R H I N O H O R N
The Destruction of Wildlife
for Traditional
Chinese Medicine
R I C H A R D E L L I S
author of The Empty Ocean
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A SHEARWATER BOOK
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Also by Richard Ellis
The Book of Sharks
The Book of Whales
Dolphins and Porpoises
Men and Whales
Great White Shark (with John McCosker)
Monsters of the Sea
Deep Atlantic
Imagining Atlantis
The Search for the Giant Squid
Encyclopedia of the Sea
Aquagenesis
Sea Dragons: Predators of Prehistoric Oceans
The Empty Ocean
No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species
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Tiger Bone & Rhino Horn
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Although this is an herbal medicine and contains no tiger parts,
the package suggests that by using it, one can acquire the tiger’s potency.
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Tiger Bone & Rhino Horn
The Destruction of Wildlife for
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Richard Ellis
/ Shearwater Books
Washington • Covelo • London
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A Shearwater Book
Published by Island Press
Copyright © 2005 Richard Ellis
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any means without permission in writing from the publisher: Island Press,
1718 Connecticut Ave., Suite 300, NW, Washington, DC 20009.
Shearwater Booksis a trademark of The Center for Resource Economics.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data.
Ellis, Richard, 1938-
Tiger bone & rhino horn : the destruction of wildlife for traditional
Chinese medicine / Richard Ellis.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-55963-532-0 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Medicine, Chinese. 2. Poaching. I. Title: Tiger bone and rhino horn.
II. Title.
R601.E44 2005
610’.951—dc22 2005002489
British Cataloguing-in-Publication data available.
Printed on recycled, acid-free paper A
Design by Joyce C. Weston
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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With a seemingly never-ending demand for the keratinous horn
in the Orient, the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros is facing the
biggest threat ever to its existence....This is a testament to the
fact that rhinoceros horn, more than any other animal-derived
medicine...is considered a life-saving traditional Chinese
medicine.
Vivek Menon, Under Siege
The most serious threat presently to tigers’ survival is the use of
their bones in Oriental medicine....As wild tiger populations
have declined owing to trophy hunting, pest control, and habitat
loss, human populations in East Asia have increased dramatically
while their per capita expendable income has risen at record
rates. At the same time, there has been a resurgence of interest in
traditional Asian cures such as tiger bone, the use of which is seen
as a status symbol, as a way to retain old customs in the face of
rapid change, and as an alternative to the fallibilities of Western
medicine.
Judy Mills and Peter Jackson, Killed for a Cure
China was the first country to utilize bear bile and gall bladder in
traditional medicinal products, and this use was adopted by Korea
and Japan centuries ago. Today the use of TCM [traditional Chi-
nese medicine] is widespread not only in Asia but also throughout
Asian communities in other areas of the world, including Europe
and America. Many of these consumers buy bear bile products,
either because they believe it to be a traditional medicine, or
because the products are marketed well by local TCM pharmacies.
The trade in gall bladders from wild bears has been extensive over
the past few decades. Tens of thousands of bears have been killed in
the wild to obtain the gall bladders and other parts, including the
paws (a delicacy in some Eastern countries), hide, claws, meat, fat
and bones. But the gall bladder has been the prize as it has the
greatest commercial value.
Tim Phillips and Philip Wilson, The Bear Bile Business
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Contents
Preface ix
1 Tyger, Tyger 1
2 Suffer the Animals 10
3 Chinese Medicine, Western Medicine 28
4 Horn of Plenty 71
5 Where Have All the Tigers Gone? 144
6 The Bad News for Bears 203
7 Tigers, Rhinos, and Bears, Oh My! 233
Bibliography 253
Illustration Credits 275
Index 279
~ vii~
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