World Wildlife Fund

What We Do

The Wild Things

Ride the tuna highway of the high seas and swim with rare river dolphins in a new edition of WWF's biweekly podcast series. Learn more.

Take Action

Take Action on Climate Change

Tell your member of Congress to vote YES on the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Take Action

Travel

Travel With WWF

Visit our travel section and choose from many amazing trips! Learn more

Adopt an Animal

Make a symbolic animal adoption to help save some of the world's most endangered animals from extinction and support WWF's conservation efforts. Adopt Now!

Support WWF

Show your love of the panda with the WWF Visa Signature^® credit card from Bank of America. Bank of America will contribute $100 to WWF for each new qualifying account.*

* See application for details.

Wildlife Trade

Tiger

Aching joints? Tired muscles? Traveling can wear you out, especially after long flights and plane changes. The concierge at the small hotel you're in recommended visiting a traditional Chinese pharmacy just down the road. The practitioner there has remedies to cure aches, pains and fatigue.

So, off you go in search of remedies that have been used for thousands of years. The pharmacist is very helpful, and has a few recommendations for you. One is of particular interest to you as it's supposed to help strengthen the muscles and bones. Sounds good. But, let's take a look at the list of ingredients before deciding to make purchases.

Indian tiger
© WWF-Canon / Martin HARVEY

Hmmmmm. There's a tiger on the box, and one of the main ingredients is Os Tigris. "What is Os Tigris?", you ask. "Sounds like tiger," you laugh. Humor changes to horror when the pharmacist tells you that, in fact, it is the bone of the tiger!

Tiger bone is a revered ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). And, even though the world community gives the tiger the highest international protection, you can still find black market products containing tiger bone for sale.

Tiger bone has many different names and medicinal or factory names, so if you want to use traditional medicines to heal your ailments, research it thoroughly to find out exactly what you are buying and taking.