Animal activists have called for an EU-wide ban on commercial tiger trade after Czech officials said they carried out raids and arrests on July 16 against people allegedly trading tigers and tiger parts for use in traditional Asian medicines.
The Customs Administration of the Czech Republic on July 18 said it had spent more than a year collecting evidence against a group of Czech and Vietnamese nationals who were trading and processing tigers and tiger parts for the use in products such as “tiger wine” – a broth that is popular with Vietnamese people. According to the Czech Environmental Inspectorate, the country has the second-largest Vietnamese community in Europe. Authorities, however, said the products were also being sold in other European Union countries and in Asia.
This footage of a raid, said to have taken place on July 16 in Prague, shows the discovery of a dead tiger, tiger skin, tiger claws and other tiger parts, along with cookware and other materials used in the production of highly-profitable traditional Asian medicine products, officials said.
Three people were arrested during the operation, according to the customs authorities.
The CEI reported that a kilogram (2.2 lbs) of tiger bones can cost up to $2,000 on the black market, tiger skin can fetch up to $20,000, while tiger wine can cost up to $100 per liter.
Customs officials said inspections were mainly focused on the Václav Havel International Airport in Prague Ruzyne, through which animals and animal parts are transported. “As early as 2013, customs officers detained consignments containing complete skeletons of tigers, tigers, teeth, horns and skin of rhinoceros,” the CEI said.
On July 18, the same day Czech officials announced the raids, animal-rights group Four Paws released hidden-camera footage that showed tigers held in cages in the Czech Republic and a trader, with his face blurred, describing trading practices and offering to sell tigers and tiger parts to Asian buyers. The group said the breeding facility seen in the hidden-camera video was at a zoo in Bašť, north of Prague, and was among the sites raided by Czech authorities. Czech media named the man in the hidden-camera video as Ludvík Berouska, and said he was among the three people arrested.
Four Paws said that a Vietnamese SAPA market in Prague’s southern outskirts was among the sites raided, and said tiger meat and other tiger products were found on sale there.
Director of Prague Zoo Miroslav Bobek issued a statement saying Ludvík Berousek and his two accomplices represented “just the tip of the iceberg” and said big-cat breeding was widespread in the Czech Republic. Credit: Czech Customs Administration
