• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
UT Shield
The University of Texas at Austin
  • Home
  • Contributor Bios
  • Description
  • Project Lead
  • Videos

April 13, 2015, Filed Under: Demand Reduction

Religion can stop trafficking

Religious groups can stop the supply and demand for illicit wildlife goods. There is potential to reduce a large portion of demand if Buddhist Monks in Thailand and the Catholic Church in the Philippines change their ways.

In Thailand, there is a “tiger temple”, located about 100 miles west of Bangkok that has been the subject of complaints by animal advocates who suspect the temple’s connection to the black market trade of tigers.

tiger-temple-thailand-29822

In February of 2015, the Thai government raided the facility and impounded more than 100 tigers, along with rare birds. This investigation might be able to prove that large numbers of tigers are ending up on the black market where their parts and pelt are priced at $50,000 – $60,000. Carole Baskin, the CEO of Florida Big Cat Rescue stated that there were, “way too many cats that are being bred and raised that aren’t showing up in sanctuaries. So, we know that something really horrible has to be happening to them, and until someone sheds light on it, it’s never going to stop.”

The fact that this is happening at a Buddhist Monastery is abhorrent. Wildlife trafficking goes against the principles of religion and has turned a Buddhist temple into a crime den.

The Buddhists aren’t the only one to blame. While Buddhist monks are facilitating supply, Catholic priests in the Philippines are facilitating demand.

According to a report by National Geographic magazine, the carving of Santo Nino done in ivory is fueling the slaughter of elephants. In recent years, over 19 tons of ivory have been seized bound for the Philippines, which is equivalent to 1,745 elephants. That just represents what the government was able to intercept. Much of the ivory brought into the country is shipped privately, slipping through borders.

Priests are the biggest collectors, and they actively encourage others to buy and sell the illicit good. The author of the National Geographic article on the ivory trade in the country was even advised by a leader of the Catholic Church, Monsignor Cristobal Garcia of Cebu, on how to smuggle ivory into the United States. The Monsignor has even called the smuggling an act of “devotion.”

Trafficking goes against the major tenets of these two religions. The religions’ prominent leaders, the Dalai Lama and the Pope, should be lobbied by activists so start change from the top down. While it will not stop sale and demand from these groups overnight, it will start to change the culture. The entire religion must take a stand on trafficking in order to stop it.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Legacy Site
  • Legacy Global Wildlife Conservation Site
  • Reducing Consumer Demand for Ivory in China
  • CITES CoP17: Will China Take the Lead in the Fight Against Illegal Ivory?
  • Washington Report

Recent Comments

  • Gayla Mixon on CITES CoP17: Will China Take the Lead in the Fight Against Illegal Ivory?
  • Joshua Busby on Multiplier Effect
  • Sharon Stewart on Multiplier Effect
  • After Tenure | Duck of Minerva on Lessons from Beijing
  • After Tenure | Duck of Minerva on Tanzanian travel

Archives

  • August 2020
  • July 2019
  • August 2017
  • September 2016
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014

Categories

  • Demand Reduction
  • Economic
  • Multilateral
  • Public-Private
  • Security
  • Sport Hunting
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

UT Home | Emergency Information | Site Policies | Web Accessibility | Web Privacy | Adobe Reader

© The University of Texas at Austin 2025