U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Activities

of the Rhinoceros and Tiger

Conservation Educational Outreach

Plan

1. National call to arms to help stop

poaching

In May 2000, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife

Service (Service) held public meetings in

New York and San Francisco to discuss the

draft Rhinoceros & Tiger Conservation Act

(RTCA) outreach plan. Agenda items

included an explanation of why the agency is

concerned about rhinoceros and tiger

conservation; an explanation of the RTCA

and its product labeling amendments; the

role of Convention on International Trade of

Endangered Species (CITES), an

international wildlife trade treaty, in

rhinoceros and tiger conservation; and

alternatives to the use of endangered species

parts and derivatives in traditional medicine.

2. Stop demand and illegal trade through

outreach

The Service sent out a letter, available in

four languages, to licensed wildlife importers

and exporters informing them of laws

concerning trade in rhinoceroses and tigers.

The Service is also teaming with World

Wildlife Fund to produce a brochure on the

use of rhino and tiger in traditional medicine

for distribution to the traditional Chinese

medicine (TCM) community.

3. Inform the public about rhinoceros and

tiger conservation

The Service assisted in completion of a

wildlife trade education module with the

World Wildlife Fund and the American

Zoological Association. The curriculum

includes a section on traditional medicines,

and will be used for instructing students, zoo

visitors, and community groups.

4. Advise consumers of health risks of

packaged medicines

An on-line database was designed by the

Service’s National Fish and Wildlife

Forensics Laboratory to record results of

chemical analysis of toxics and heavy metals

found in some packaged traditional

medicines. A public fact sheet is available on

the Service website giving details of this

research.

5. Work with the traditional medicine

community on alternatives to rhino and

tiger medicines

The Service is funding a survey to be

conducted in the traditional medicine

community to discover what alternatives to

rhinoceros and tiger products are currently

being used. In cooperation with the Chinese

Medicine Conservation Education Project,

these results will be used to disseminate

information to traditional medicine

practitioners on alternatives to the use of

these endangered species.

6. Stimulate and sustain stakeholder

cooperation in program

The Service is committed to providing

technical and financial support for foreign

governments in their attempts to conserve

rhinoceros and tiger species, and works to

sustain a dialogue with non-governmental

organizations and the traditional medicine

community by participating in international

symposia and CITES meetings. Service

staff will attend a TCM symposium to be

held in Fall 2002 to participate on a panel

discussing the integration of TCM ideals and

wildlife conservation. The Service also

provides TCM related information on its

website.

7. Assess or measure the effectiveness of

the outreach plan

The Service has designated an e-mail

address, traditionalmedicines@fws.gov, for

questions and comments related to

traditional medicines and the RTCA

outreach plan.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

International Affairs

Division of Management Authority

4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 700

Arlington, VA 22203

703-358-2104

e-mail: traditionalmedicines@fws.gov

http://www.fws.gov

http://international.fws.gov

Fall 2002