An environmental group says that China is allowing the sale of tiger skins, potentially contradicting a pledge the country made last year to end any trade in tiger products. At issue, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency, a conservation group, is a 2007 program that makes legal a market for tiger parts from animals raised in captivity. In a , the group wrote that tiger pelts from captive animals are available for sale online, which it says opens a market for illegal tiger and leopard products from animals killed in the wild. China, which has agreed to ban all tiger products, has not responded to the charges, and the EIA has not substantiated its claim that the tiger products for sale reflect government policy. , the wildlife trade monitoring network, estimates that fewer than 2,500 adult tigers survive in the wild, and has called for an end to commercial breeding of the animals.
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