Nathu La may turn poachers' pass

New Delhi: In the bustling streets of Sikkim's capital Gangtok, hopes are running high that the re-opening of Nathu-La could give a big boost to the local economy.

But there are many who don't share this enthusiasm.

As India and China celebrate the re-opening of Nathu La, security concerns of a different kind have cropped up.

In Delhi, the Ministry of Environment and Forests has warned that Nathu La will open the doors to the biggest wildlife market in the world, just across the border in Tibet.

Most of the tigers killed by poacher Sansar Chand over the last year were to meet the rising demand from this region.

"This is another route and so in principle it opens another possibility of an additional route for illegal wildlife trade," says Ministry of Environment and Forest Secretary Pradipto Ghosh.

Although China recently banned the use of tiger parts in traditional medicine and made display or wearing of tiger parts an offence, few believe the illicit trade has been stamped out.

"The other two main routes so far was through Nepal – Kathmandu to Lahsa and another route was from Uttaranchal, that is from Pithoragarh district. These routes are still there, they have not fade away. Except, Nathu La route is the shortest. In one day it is possible from Gangtok to reach Tibet," said Ashok Kumar of Wildlife Trust of India.

Facts that worry wildlife activists are:

Investigations by the World Wide Fund in India and Wildlife Trust of India shows that Tibet remains the world's biggest destination for smuggled wildlife.

There is huge demand for tiger and leopard skins, elephant tusks, tiger bones, bear gall bladder, otter skins and shahtoosh wool.

Trafficking in animal skin is the third-highest currency earner after drugs and human trafficking.

The virtual decimation of India's tiger population in recent years and the trafficking of tiger parts to Tibet shows the dangers ahead.

Nathu La in that sense cannot be seen only as building bridges with China, for poachers and wildlife traders it could present new opportunities to make illicit profits.

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