The demands of traditional Asian medicine (TAM) don't just pose a threat to the survival of tigers and rhinos (Nature 480, S101–S103; 2011). Numerous smaller species are also at risk, as a result of being traded in large volumes.

For example, millions of dried seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) and Tokay geckos (Gekko gecko) are sold annually for use against impotence and circulatory problems in TAM. Gecko sales have been further fuelled by rumours that larger individuals can cure HIV. Trade in dried orchid parts for eye ailments and in ginseng rhizomes is consuming plants in their millions. The decline in Asia's turtle population is being aggravated by the marketing of TAMs that contain turtle plastrons (the flat underbelly of the shell) to treat skin diseases.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species seeks to protect most of these globally threatened species. The high demand for scaly anteaters, or pangolins (Manis spp.), for example, has led to an international trade ban. However, the scales of tens of thousands of pangolins are still confiscated annually in Asia.

For some species, captive breeding and plant propagation have been successful, but the demand for wild-sourced ingredients means that such techniques cannot wholly mitigate the impact of trade.

The killing of endangered tigers and rhinos for TAM will not go unnoticed. But the insidious destruction of smaller species must also be halted by enforcing stricter regulations.