An arc of keratin would be a fitting symbol for the downwards curve in the world’s wildlife populations. In the same week that China controversially reinstated the trade in rhino horns, the World Wide Fund for Nature published a comprehensive report on the diminished state of the planet’s fauna. China’s state ban on the use and trade of rhino horns and tiger parts had been in place for 25 years.
The government lifted it last week by way of an obscure cabinet notice. The permitted trade, it promised, would come only from captive animals in order to assist medicine, science and “temporary cultural exchanges”. Conservationists countered that it would rekindle the appetite of poachers, giving them a channel for laundering their unethical gains.
Species already vulnerable to extinction would be pushed to the brink. Estimates vary but, globally, there are thought to be around 30,000 rhinos and fewer than 4,000 tigers in the wild. The six subspecies of the latter are either endangered or critically endangered. The U-turn is odd given China’s recent move to ban the ivory trade, as well as its leadership on climate change.
It has been suggested that traditional Chinese medicine, which reveres rhino horns and tiger bones (as well as whiskers and teeth), is a vehicle for soft diplomacy. China, by proffering bits of beasts from the east, seems willing to trade away some of its green credentials in return for global influence. The outlook for less photogenic species is also dispiriting, according to WWF. Its Living Planet report, produced in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London conservation charity, claims that wildlife populations declined by an average of 60 percent between 1970 and 2014. This covers mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians.