International environmental movements are calling on China to sharply limit its tiger farming industry. In other news, China has tiger farms.

I'm definitely of two minds about this. While I personally find the concept of raising tigers specifically to harvest their bits distasteful, if a percentage of the profits could somehow be funneled into conservation efforts for the wild ones I can't really categorically state I'm against it. I mean really, how different is this from, say, a cattle farm?

The very existence of a legal, reliable source of tiger parts to help keep superstitious Asian wangs at full-mast will considerably ease the pressure on wild populations. After all, if the market is allowed to work the domestic stuff will inevitably be cheaper. Why trek through the jungle when you just have to pay a visit to farmer Ming to get what you want?