JAPAN: Wildlife Smugglers Cashing in on Chinese Medicine Craze

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Jan 20 1996 (IPS) - Japan legally imports more than 100,000 wild animals a year to meet the demand of local pet lovers, but many more are being smuggled into the country by illegal traders eager to cash in on the popularity of Chinese medicinal products.

The discovery last month of more than 4,000 dead snakes packed into 80 boxes floating in southern Japanese waters alarmed authorities and conservationists who have long warned of rampant wildlife smuggling in the country.

Toshiro Iwano, an expert who examined the unusual shipment, says the snakes, most of them vipers, are native to an area surrounding the Yangtze River in China. He suspects the reptiles were to be used in Chinese medicine.

The snakes do not belong to varieties banned under the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Iwano said the snakes were small so their skin could not be made into leather products, adding that such varieties are often used as a tonic in Korea and Southeast Asia.

The fact that so many snakes were discovered has bolstered suspicion that the smuggling of lives snakes from East and South- east Asia into Japan has long been going on.

“Japanese customs officials are baffled by the discovery. Nobody has been caught. This is very disturbing and points to something the authorities have not been aware of till now,” said Keiko Ishihara of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Japan.

Japan is a popular destination for exotic Asian wildlife like monkeys, lizards, birds and tropical fish — both smuggled and legally imported.

Some endangered species can be imported after obtaining a special document proving they were bred in captivity, a popular practice in Japan.

Smugglers are encouraged by the big market for rare and exotic products in the country. The strong yen is an added attraction, significantly pushing up their profits.

Conservationists attribute the problem of wildlife smuggling to the sudden boom in Chinese health products in Japan. Medicines made of tiger, rhino and bear parts are particularly popular, making it difficult to enforce a ban on such products.

The only information released by the authorities about the latest strange shipment is that the snakes were dumped off a boat after they were found to have died on board.