Networks have become more organised, transnational, says NGO
PETALING JAYA: Global crime syndicates trafficking tigers are evolving faster than authorities can respond, with new data showing one of the sharpest rises in illegal tiger trade in 25 years, according to the latest analysis by wildlife monitoring NGO Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce (Traffic).
Its Beyond Skin and Bones report recorded 2,551 tiger-seizure incidents from 2000 to June this year, representing the equivalent of at least 3,808 tigers. More than 573 whole tigers were confiscated in that period, approximately nine every month.
More than two-thirds of whole-tiger seizures occurred in countries without viable wild tiger populations, pointing to leakage from captive-breeding facilities or unreported cross-border movements. Most cases occurred in the 13 tiger range countries (TRC), which also accounted for the bulk of animals seized.
Traffic said crime networks have grown more organised and transnational, moving through protected landscapes, border provinces and urban consumption hubs. In 2023, authorities logged 139 seizures, the second-highest annual figure after 2019, with more than 75% occurring in the TRC.
“The rise reflects improved enforcement but also persistent, and in some areas worsening, criminal activity, driven by widespread demand for tigers and their parts,” said Traffic senior wildlife crime analyst and report co-author Ramacandra Wong.
She added that the past five years show a major shift: syndicates are now trafficking whole tigers, alive or dead, instead of parts, signalling a change in consumer preference. In Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Russia, whole-animal seizures now account for more than 40% of confiscations.
She also said wild populations are being targeted even as captive animals leak into the trade, creating a “twin pressure” that is accelerating the decline of the species.
Traffic Southeast Asia director Kanitha Krishnasamy said poaching for illegal trade remains the single greatest threat to tigers and Malaysia is not spared.
She added that reversing the species’ decline is still possible, but only if governments rapidly increase investment in frontline protection, intelligence work and enforcement.
“The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) must treat this as a priority. We are well past the point in which this could be ignored.”
The report also highlights a growing trend of traffickers bundling multiple species in single shipments. About 20% of tiger-related seizures involved other protected wildlife, most commonly leopards (34%), bears (26%) and pangolins (16%).
Global hotspots identified between 2020 and this year include tiger reserves in India and Bangladesh, Aceh in Indonesia, the Vietnam–Laos trafficking corridor and tiger-product consumption centres in major Vietnamese cities. Traffic documented more than 1,600 distinct seizure locations, underscoring the mobile, entrenched nature of the networks.
The nature of the trade is also changing. In the early 2000s, parts made up 90% of all seizures; from 2020 onwards, that dropped to about 60% as whole-animal trafficking surged.
Traffic said governments attending CITES must close captive-breeding loopholes, strengthen intelligence-sharing, crack down on demand and tighten enforcement across the entire trade chain, steps it says are critical to disrupting fast-adapting criminal groups.
World Wide Fund for Nature Global Tiger Programme tiger trade lead Heather Sohl said the findings expose systemic weaknesses.
“This report is a wake-up call. Criminal networks are adapting faster than our response. Without urgent investment to tackle the illegal trade from both wild and captive sources, decades of conservation gains could be wiped out.”
