A Senate panel has approved a measure intended to serve as an international model to prevent trafficking in tigers and their body parts
Master Moore views a white bengal tiger at the Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton in this file photo. TRENTON — A Senate panel has approved a measure intended to serve as an international model to prevent trafficking in tigers and their body parts.
The bill (S3061) would establish strict reporting and registration requirements for captive tigers in New Jersey to prevent their illegal trade. It cleared the Senate Economic Growth Committee unanimously.
“This bill will send a message throughout the country and indeed the world that this illegal trade in tiger parts is horrible,” said its sponsor, state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union).
Lesniak got the idea from Mark O’Donnell, a board member of the Eco Health Alliance who is former Gov. Jim McGreevey’s life partner.
“I’m not a wildlife conservation expert, but I am a New Jersey citizen and a concerned citizen. 100 years ago there were 100,000 tigers in the world,” said O’Donnell. “There were nine subspecies. We’re down to probably five subspecies and less than 4,000 tigers in the wild.”
Supporters of the bill said there is a confusing patchwork of state and federal regulations that cover exotic animals, and that a universal standard is necessary. They pointed to an incident in 1999, when a tiger escaped a sanctuary in Jackson, in Ocean County. The facility was registered for 23 tigers, but only 19 were found there.
“Authorities had no idea whether other tigers were on the loose or a threat to the community,” said Leigh Henry, senior policy officer for the World Wildlife Fund.
Under the bill, tiger owners would have to tell the state Department of Environmental Protection know where a tiger will be kept; its date of birth, weight and sex; whether it has any distinguishing marks; and to provide a digital photograph, as well as a hair sample, for DNA analysis. It also requires microchipping, and outlines how to dispose of a tiger's body and document the death for the DEP.
Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the DEP, told The Star-Ledger there are 24 tigers in five zoos in New Jersey.
Added Henry: “No one can say at any given time where these animals are, who owns them, where they’re sold and traded and what happens to them when they die.”
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