India and China have signed a protocol in the first week of March in Beijing to cooperate in stopping the poaching of tigers, and curbing the smuggling and illegal use of tiger bones and other parts. The partly mythical values attached to tiger products, like its bones, claws, teeth and even its urine and dried dung, have always ensured a large and lucrative market for these in China. However, the Chinese tiger is all but extinct, and smuggling in tiger products had been rampant.

The two countries have now decided to take measures jointly to put an end to all that. They have agreed to establish bilateral research and training programmes and exchange of research data for the purpose of scientific management of the tiger and its habitats. An education programme on these issues will also be jointly launched, first in the two countries, and then on an international level.