Threatened species of Panthera

The wild tiger population has declined from around 100,000 at the turn of the century to fewer than 6,000 in 1998. Two sub-species, the Bali and Caspian tigers, have already disappeared and experts fear the Java tiger is also extinct.

Of 110 traditional Chinese medicine shops surveyed in seven cities in North America, nearly half offered the sale of one or more protected species medicines. Products labelled to contain tiger bone -- which is used primarily to treat arthritis and rheumatism -- were most common.