The future of the wild tiger is under grave threat unless China and India crack down on the growing trade in its skin, a lobby group has warned.

The Environmental Investigation Agency said the smuggling of tiger and leopard pelts was "spiralling out of control".

China's economic boom is fuelling the trade in big cats killed in India and smuggled via Nepal and Tibet, it said.

The EIA said there were fewer than 5,000 wild tigers left in the world - down from about 100,000 a century ago.

About half of them live in India.

The EIA report, entitled The Tiger Skin Trail, was released in Bangkok, where the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) is currently holding its biennial meeting.

It said the rate at which big cat products were being traded was greater than ever.

In October last year, Chinese officials intercepted a record haul of 31 tiger skins that were being smuggled into China via Tibet.

The seizure, said to be worth $1.2m (£670,000), also included the skins of 581 leopards and 778 otters.

Destruction of habitat

"Detailed field investigations reveal the existence of well-organised syndicates trafficking tiger and leopard skins between India, Nepal... and China," said the report.

"Tigers poached in India are ending up as luxury decor in the homes of wealthy Chinese, and are often smuggled through Nepal."

It called for a better co-ordinated effort to stop the trade, which is illegal under the Cites treaty signed by 166 nations.

But the group pointed out that poaching was not the only threat to wild tigers.

Their decline in numbers, it said, could also be attributed to the destruction of their natural habitat and a growing lack of prey such as deer and cattle.

Source: BBC News