Bolivia’s jaguars face threat from Chinese fang craze

Bolivia’s once-thriving jaguar population is loping into the cross-hairs of a growing threat from poachers responding to growing Chinese demand for the animal’s teeth and skull.

Researchers believe there are around 7,000 of the speckled big cats in Bolivia, out of a global population of some 64,000, stretching from North America to Argentina. But such is the appetite in China’s huge underground market that “if controls are not put in place, it can lead to a serious problem” for their survival, warned Fabiola Suarez of the Environment Ministry.

He says the increased presence of Chinese nationals in the South American country has stimulated demand. President Evo Morales’ leftist government has awarded $7 billion worth of public works contracts to Chinese groups, sparking an influx of workers from the Asian giant.

Each of the cat’s teeth, which measure between eight and 10 cm, can fetch up to $100 for poachers, but that figure can reach $5,000 on the Chinese market. The feline’s skull is also prized by traffickers, at rates of up to $1,000.

Traffickers also sell the skin, and even the testicles, which along with the ground-down teeth, are prized as an aphrodisiac.