China’s Captive Tigers: An Application of the Precautionary Principle to Policy

Abstract

Tigers have been subject to large and prolonged declines in the wild for several reasons, including poaching. Policies to arrest this decline have been ongoing but marked by failure. One controversial element of the management of tigers is the large captive-breeding facilities in China. This controversy stems from uncertainties about the consequences of these facilities and the best policies to pursue. These uncertainties motivate the employment of the precautionary principle in this research. The precautionary principle is appropriate given the high levels of uncertainty associated with tiger conservation. The precautionary principle is intended to avoid irreversible biodiversity losses. This means the primary concern is the likelihood of different strategies leading to a decline in wild tiger numbers rather than the potential for an increase. This paper applies the precautionary principle to three policy options. These options are to; first, close the facilities down; second, continuing to maintain a large captive population; and third, to resume It is argued that the precautionary principle favours maintaining a high captive population to forestall a consumer switch to black-market sources. Given that this situation is not sustainable, research to resolve some important information gaps is imperative.