Perception, Price and Preference: Consumption and Protection of Wild Animals Used in Traditional Medicine.

A wide array of wildlife species, including many animals, are used in traditional medicines across many medicinal systems, including in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Due to over-exploitation and habitat loss, the populations of many animals commonly used in TCM have declined and are unable to meet market demand. A number of measures have been taken to try to reduce the impact that this large and growing market for TCM may have on wild animal species. Consumer preferences and behavior are known to play an important role in the consumption and protection of wild animals used in traditional medicine, and thus are likely to be an important factor in the success of many of these mechanisms--particularly given the significant percentage of TCMs that are over-the-counter products (access to which is not mediated by practitioners). In this study we conducted questionnaires and designed stated preference experiments embodying different simulation scenarios using a random sample of the population in Beijing to elicit individuals' knowledge, perceptions and preferences toward wild or farmed animal materials and their substitutes used in traditional Chinese medicine. We found that respondents had a stated preference for wild materials over farm-raised and other alternatives because they believe that the effectiveness of wild-sourced materials is more credible than that of other sources. However, we also found that, although respondents used TCM products, they had a poor understanding of the function or composition of either traditional Chinese medicines or proprietary Chinese medicines (PCM), and paid little attention to the composition of products when making purchasing decisions. Furthermore, awareness of the need for species protection, or "conservation consciousness" was found to play an important role in willingness to accept substitutions for wild animal materials, while traditional animal medicinal materials (TAMs) derived from well-known endangered species, such as bear bile and tiger bone, show relatively higher substitutability. These results suggest that there is still hope for conservation measures which seek to promote a transition to farmed animal, plant and synthetic ingredients and provide clear directions for future social marketing, education and engagement efforts.

Identification of ungulates used in a traditional Chinese medicine with DNA barcoding technology.

Horns of Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) have always been an ingredient of "Lingyangjiao", a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Persistent hunting for Saiga antelope has already threatened the survival of critical endangered populations in wild. To control the growing pressure, CITES and Chinese government have legislated for monitoring the trade of Saiga horns. However, similar ungulate horns are difficult to identify by their morphological characteristics, which has impeded the law enforcement. Besides Saiga antelope, other seven ungulate species which have similar horns are also sold and marked as "Lingyangjiao" in TCM markets to offset shortage of Saiga antelope horns. Such species are Gazella subgutturosa, Pantholops hodgsonii, Procapra picticaudata, Procapra gutturosa, Procapra przewalskii, Capra hircus, and Ovis aries. Our study aimed at implementing DNA barcoding technology to diagnose Saiga horns and the substitutes. We successfully extracted genomic DNA from horn samples. We recovered COI sequences of 644 bp with specific primers and 349 bp with nested PCR primers designed for degraded horn samples. The mean interspecific genetic distance of data set of the 644-bp full barcodes and the 349-bp mini-barcodes was 14.96% and 15.38%, respectively, and the mean intraspecific distance was 0.24% and 0.20%, respectively. Each species formed independent clades in neighbor-joining (NJ) phylogenetic tree of the two data sets with >99% supporting values, except P. gutturosa and P. przewalskii. The deep genetic distances gap and clear species clades in NJ tree of either full barcodes or mini-barcodes suggest that barcoding technology is an effective tool to diagnose Saiga horns and their substitutes. Barcoding diagnosis protocol developed here will simplify diagnosis of "Lingyangjiao" species and will facilitate conservation of endangered ungulates involved in TCM "Lingyangjiao" markets, especially the Saiga antelope.