How much is a tiger cub on the black market

The wildlife trade has become a scourge that threatens the extinction of rare species on the planet, and in recent decades has also spread widely in Greece.

The third most profitable illegal activity in the world after drug trafficking and arms trafficking is the sale of wild animals. There are only 3,900 tigers in the wild today, 95% fewer than 100 years ago, while an estimated 5,000 more kept in captivity in private homes – mostly in America.

According to the UN, The wildlife trade generates billions of dollars of global turnover and should be considered as view organized crime. Dramatic elements leaking to the press from time to time bring a global problem to the fore.

One recent example is the touching story that unfolded in Athens. A three-month-old white tiger cub was found abandoned by the garbage cans near the zoological park in Spata. The unfortunate animal was left there by a so far unidentified person (the police are investigating the details). The female, a tigress, was paralyzed from the waist down.

It is assumed that the animal came to Athens illegally, during the sale of wild animals. At the same time, according to information, in the coming days, the investigation to identify the perpetrators may be expanded. They are “combing” groups allegedly involved in human trafficking and money laundering.

Although the trade in wild animals is prohibited in Greece, as in other countries EUborder control is imperfect, as evidenced by practice. According to a report compiled by the European Union Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network, in 2020 our country ranked 14th place among EU countries on confiscation of illegally transported wild animals and birds.

Just a year ago, in March 2022, the Panhellenic Federation for Charity and Environmental Protection filed a complaint with the Cypriot and Greek authorities about the importation of wild animals and keeping them in captivity by private individuals. The complaint was accompanied photographs and audio-visual materials from social networks, in which users showed cubs, lions, lynxes, monkeys being bottle-fed or kept in cages.

“It was clear that these animals were living in private homes,” the PFPO activist said, referring to “overwhelming evidence of a network of illegal trade in wild felines in Greece. The persons involved in this must be verified without further delay in order to stop this “universal evil.”

As Jean-Jacques Lesueur, owner of the Attic Zoological Park, explained, Wildlife trade is banned in the European Union, but not in other parts of the world such as India and America. “Where anyone who has a simple permit and has proven that he can keep such an animal can have it in his house. In addition, keeping wild animals is allowed in Eastern Europe, he notes. – There are 3000 zoological parks in Europe, and only 350 of them are certified. No one knows where individuals (and their offspring) contained there without documents may subsequently end up. White tigers and white lions have mutated and been used in circuses for many years.. Their “use” (as artists) is now banned in the EU. However, even through the Internet, someone can buy a wild animal and bring it to Greece without being controlled.”

The expert adds that abandoned tiger cub underwent computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, which revealed both genetic malformations and those acquired as a result of ill-treatment with him. Now it is in a separate pavilion (hidden from the eyes of visitors), and veterinarians take care of it.

So how much does a small white tiger cub cost on the “black market”? An internet search reveals that acquiring an exotic tiger is much easier than one might think. For prices ranging from $3,000 to $6,000, small white tigers and more are sold all over America. Farm-raised cheetahs, cougars, jaguars, leopards, black panthers and lion cubs end up in private homes, satisfying the “refined tastes” of self-centered owners who go against the laws of nature and logic…

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