The US diplomat posed as a Korean tourist at the Xiongsen Tiger and Bear Farmin  South China. There had been reports of mistreatment of the animals, as well as suspicions of tiger meat and body parts being sold.

Indeed, the diplomat, whose name has not been released, found evidence of just that. He found instances of tigers being whipped and forced to perform “marriage processions.” Even more troubling are the reports that the tigers were being sold for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

In a cable called “Devouring Dragon, Disappearing Tigers,” the diplomat said he was treated with mistrust until the sale personnel at the facility began to believe he was Korean. At that point, they were keen to do business with him.

The business, specifically, was around tiger parts, which are sold at high cost in the name of traditional medicine. "The staff stated that up to three tour groups of Koreans came a day, numbering more than 30 in each group.The Koreans were among the most enthusiastic purchasers of both the black bear bile and the tiger wine."

In the cabled dated 2007, he wrote: "The commercial nature of the farm was troubling. The large number of endangered tigers and bears present with no current plans to reintroduce to them into the wild raises concern regarding the motivation of such a farm. Given the cost of feeding and caring for the numerous tigers, lions and bears, it appears highly unlikely that the farm would be able to meet its costs based solely on the admission price and government subsidies."

There has been nothing reported about what the US government plans to do with this information. Let’s hope they do something. We do see a glimmer of hope in that fact that this little undercover investigation took place at all, don’t you?