What are the U.S. and international laws protecting tigers?
The trade in tigers and their parts is prohibited from commercial international trade by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international treaty that includes over 160 member countries. The U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibits interstate commerce as well as import and export of tigers and tiger products. In 1994, the U.S. Congress passed the Rhino and Tiger Conservation Act, a specific measure to provide greater protection and resources for conservation of these species. In 1998, an amendment to this act called the Rhino and Tiger Product Labeling Act made it illegal to import, export, or sell products intended for “human consumption or application” that claimed to contain any substance derived from tigers. This amendment means that Customs and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials do not have to prove that a product labeled as containing a tiger derivative actually contains that substance. Virtually all countries w
