The Bengal tiger Panthera tigris

Our mounted Bengal tiger was seized by HM Customs and Excise at Aberdeen Airport in 1996. Probably a zoo animal, it had been mounted in NE Scotland and was being exported to the Middle East but without the necessary permit. Tigers are fully protected under CITES and cannot be traded without proper authorisation.

Bengal tiger Panthera tigris
Photograph: © Aberdeen Zoology Museum

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between Governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Despite this the world's wild tigers are on the brink of extinction. The Bali, Javan and Caspian tigers are already extinct and the other sub-species are in terminal decline due to habitat loss and to poaching to provide tiger bones and other body parts for use in Chinese medicines. In 2005 there are about 5000 tigers left. If poaching continues at the present rate there will be no tigers left in the wild by 2010 - the next Year of the Tiger in the Chinese calendar.

Nearly every part of a tiger has a prescribed benefit according to the tenets of Chinese medicine. For example the skin is used for mental illness, the testes for TB of the lymph nodes, the fat for piles and dog bites, the bones for sprains and joint problems, the teeth for sores on the penis and the whiskers for toothache.

Chinese medicines containing tiger parts
Photograph: Martyn L Gorman

These products, all claiming to contain tiger parts, were seized in Soho, London by the Metropolitan Police. They were presented to Aberdeen University Zoology Museum for use in conservation education.

The mounted tiger was presented to The University of Aberdeen Zoology Museum by HM Customs and Excise in recognition of its involvement in conservation education with young people. It is a firm favourite with visitors of all ages.