Russian customs officers arrest tiger-bone smuggler

Customs officers from Russia's Far Estern Primorye Territory have arrested a Chinese national who attempted to smuggle the bones of an endangered Amur tiger to China, a customs spokeswoman said. "Officers discovered a package containing bones of the endangered animal in a car," spokeswoman Natalya Kurdyukova said. The owner of the car told officers that he had been asked to bring the bones from Russia in order to produce a tincture to treat arthritis. Tiger bones are valued for their supposed medicinal properties in China. Despite massive efforts to protect the Amur tiger population, it is estimated that there are only about 450 of these cats left in the wild.