China eases 25 year old ban on rhino and tiger products

The Chinese government has legalized the use of endangered tiger and rhino products for "medical" purposes, a move wildlife activists say will be a setback to efforts to protect the increasingly endangered animals.

In a statement on Monday, China's State Council said rhino and tiger parts could now be used "in medical research and healing," as long as they came from farmed animals.

The directive reverses a 1993 ban put in place by Beijing on the international trade in tiger bones and rhino horns, both valued for their purported healing powers in Chinese traditional medicine.

While in 2010 the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies issued a statement saying there was no evidence for the claimed medical benefits of tiger bone.

Despite this, there is a still a lucrative trade in the body parts in China, where thousands of captive tigers are bred for ineffective traditional cures.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) called on Beijing to urgently reinstate the ban, saying in a statement it was "critical" to saving the species.

"It is deeply concerning that China has reversed its 25 year old tiger bone and rhino horn ban, allowing a trade that will have devastating consequences globally", said Margaret Kinnaird, WWF Wildlife Practice Leader.

The decision by the Chinese government comes less than a year after it officially banned the trade of ivory, a move which conservationists hoped would help save increasingly endangered elephants.