Every year poachers sell about 150 tiger skins, whereas the annual turnover of tiger skins and bones on the black market is some $5 million, United Nations office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Yury Fedotov said on Monday.
"150 tiger skins and 150 kilograms of tiger bones are sold on the black market annually," Fedotov said. "In 2009, one [tiger] skin cost $20,000 and a kilogram of bones - $1,200," he added.
He said about 150 tigers are killed by poachers every year, which is about 5% of world tiger population.
Fedotov urged impeding poachers before tigers become extinct in the world.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) plans to spend $85 million in the next five years on programs aimed at restoring the global tiger population, WWF head James Leape said Monday.
According to the WWF, there are about 3,200 tigers left worldwide.
A century ago, there were some 100,000 wild tigers across Asia and the Russian Far East. The wild cats have been steadily pushed to the verge of extinction by poaching, illegal trade, and habitat loss.
The International Tiger Conservation Forum, hosted by the northwestern Russian city of St. Petersburg running November 21-24, is discussing a plan to double the animal's population in 12 years, which will require up to $350 million from the international community.
Keshav Varma, the director of the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), called on the international community on Monday to donate more money to save the tigers.
RIA Novosti
