Tiger, pangolin farming in Myanmar risks 'boosting demand'

In this file photo, a Bengal tiger reacts while cooling off in a pond inside a cage during a hot summer day at Alipore Zoological Garden in Kolkata. Myanmar has opened the way for the commercial farming of tigers, pangolins and other endangered species, a move conservationists fear will drive Chinese demand for rare wildlife products and ultimately increase poaching. - AFP

YANGON, July 11, 2020 (AFP): Conservationists have warned a sudden change in Myanmar's law allowing the commercial farming of tigers, pangolins and other endangered species risks further fuelling demand in China for rare wildlife products.

The South-East Asian nation is already a hub for the illegal trafficking of wildlife, a trade driven by demand from neighbouring China and worth an estimated $20 billion worldwide.