| Abstract | Poachers, smugglers, black marketeers and wealthy consumers are rapidly creating a series of missing links in the food chain. In recent months Chinese medical practitioners have been heavily targetted as responsible for the demise of various species, notably tigers, bears, and rhinos, whose parts are essential ingredients for Chinese medicines. However most practitioners are eminently reasonable, realising that "extinct is final". At the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species [CITES] held in Florida last November, Hongkong was criticised for its role as an entrepot for the illegal trade. Assistant Editor Rob Stewart talked to conservationists, government officials, Chinese medical practitioners and representatives of the business world about this emotive and complex subject. |
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