Renhui Zhao, Singapore/UK
To Sell a Tiger

My work takes a look at the tiger farms of China, where over 5,000 tigers are housed in captivity. As conservation efforts for wild tigers are failing all over Asia, having such tiger farms in China seems to be a logical solution. This proposal is based upon the premise that bio-diversity is best preserved by commercialisation. Tiger farming may possibly be the most positive and widespread economic incentive for the conservation of tigers in Asia. Tiger parts from the dead tigers are sold for medicinal purposes in the Asian market.

Maintaining the survival of a species will be more profitable when looked at from the point of view of creating a sustainable resource, whether as a spectacle for tourists or as raw material for pharmaceutical firms. Captive tigers are kept for profit to ensure the freedom of their wild counterparts.

Most of the tigers perform in spectacles where visitors buy animals such as chickens and even cows for a ‘re-wilding’ session. These ‘re-wilding’ sessions gives an illusion of free-dom as the audience watch a domestic tiger hunt down ducks and buffaloes.

Under pressure from these farms, the Chinese government is pushing to legalise the trade of tiger parts in an ironic gesture to save the species from becoming extinct. The profits will in turn support the 're-wilding' efforts China is undertaking with its factory-farmed tigers. The first ‘re-wilded’ tiger was due to be introduced back into the wild during the Beijing Olympics 2008.

The New Delhi-based economist, Barun Mitra, who has visited China on invitation from state agencies several times, and who has worked closely with the Chinese government commented, "Despite the growing environmental bureaucracy and budgets, and despite the proliferation of conservationists and conferences, the tiger is as close to extinction as it has been since Project Tiger (India) was launched in 1972. But animals are renewable re-sources. If you think of tigers as products, it becomes clear that demand provides opportu-nity."