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Exploring saiga horn consumption in Singapore
                                                         M E R Y L T H E N G , J E N N Y A . G L I K M A N and E . J . M I L N E R - G U L L A N D

                Abstract The Critically Endangered saiga antelope Saiga                                wildlife, causing rapid declines in the affected populations
                tatarica faces an uncertain future, with populations dwin-                             (Mittermeier et al., ; Zhang et al., ; Bennett, ;
                dling from epidemics in its range countries, and ongoing                               Ferreira et al., ). Understanding consumer behaviour
                demand for its horns in the traditional Chinese medicine                               and motivations is a vital component in tackling this threat,
                trade. Singapore is a major hub for the global trade in                                as it provides a foundation for the development of effective
                saiga horn and an important consumer country, with                                     long-term campaigns that reduce wildlife consumption
                saiga horn products widely available in the domestic market.                           (Wasser & Jiao, ; Burgess, ).
                Despite this, little is known about the consumers that drive                               Singapore has a history of wildlife consumption for me-
                domestic demand. Before interventions are carried out, it is                           dicinal use (Martin, ; Barnard, ). Although there
                important to understand who the consumers are, and their                               have been investigations into wildlife products for sale in
                motivations. We conducted an investigation into consump-                               the traditional Chinese medicine market (Govind & Ho,
                tion prevalence and consumer demographics, knowledge                                   ; Ng & Burgess, ; Meibom et al., ), little
                and motivations. We surveyed  Chinese Singaporeans,                                 work has been done to understand the local consumers
                through a combination of face-to-face interviews and self-                             that drive the trade.
                administered questionnaires. Recent consumption inci-                                      Traditional Chinese medicine is regarded as being a part
                dence (in the previous  months) was relatively high, at                              of Singapore’s heritage and Chinese culture (Ministry of
                %. Younger respondents (– years) had the highest                                 Health, ), and as a form of complementary and alterna-
                prevalence of recent consumption (%), often as a result                              tive medicine alongside Singapore’s Western-based health-
                of influence from an older family member or friend.                                    care system. Chinese medicine shops located within housing
                Bottled saiga horn cooling water was the most popular prod-                            estates, and modern franchises in shopping malls, provide
                uct among recent users (%), followed by horn shavings                                traditional medicinal products over the counter throughout
                (%) and tablets (%). Awareness of conservation issues                              the country. The number of traditional Chinese medicinal
                and regulations was uniformly low. Awareness raising may                               products from threatened animals available in Singapore
                have an effect in reducing consumer demand in Singapore.                               appears to have decreased since the s as a result of re-
                However, given the exploratory nature of this study, it is best                        duced domestic demand, trade bans on species listed on
                used to guide and inform future research underlying behav-                             Appendix I of CITES (), higher penalties and increased
                ioural change interventions in a relatively understudied but                           enforcement (e.g. in relation to rhinoceros and bear pro-
                important consumer group, Chinese Singaporeans.                                        ducts; Martin, ; Foley et al., ; AVA & Singapore
                                                                                                       Customs, ; Theng & Krishnasamy, in press). One of
                Keywords Horn, Saiga tatarica, Singapore, TCM, traditional
                                                                                                       the few products that remains widely available is saiga
                Chinese medicine, wildlife trade
                                                                                                       horn (Theng & Krishnasamy, in press), known locally as
                Supplementary material for this article is available at                                ling yang jiao, which is believed to be effective in reducing
                https://doi.org/./S                                              fevers, detoxification, assuaging epilepsy, and benefiting
                                                                                                       the liver (Zang, ).
                                                                                                           The horn used in ling yang jiao comes from the saiga
                                                                                                       antelope Saiga tatarica, a nomadic herding species of the
                Introduction                                                                           steppes and semi-desert regions of south-eastern Europe
                                                                                                       and Central Asia, of which there are two subspecies. Saiga

                T   he demand for animal products for medicinal purposes
                    is one of the major drivers of the illegal wildlife trade
                globally, across a range of taxa (Warchol, ; Nijman,
                                                                                                       tatarica tatarica occurs in Kalmykia, Russian Federation
                                                                                                       (one population), and in Kazakhstan (three populations:
                                                                                                       Ural, Ustiurt, Betpak-Dala), and S. tatarica mongolica
                ). This demand has led to the unsustainable killing of                             occurs in Mongolia. Once abundant (Sokolov & Zhirnov,
                                                                                                       ), populations have declined drastically, from . ,,
                                                                                                       in the s to an estimated low of , in , largely
                MERYL THENG (Corresponding author) TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Petaling Jaya,
                Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail meryltheng@gmail.com                                        as a result of uncontrolled hunting for meat and horns
                JENNY A. GLIKMAN Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global,
                                                                                                       (Milner-Gulland et al., ; CMS, ). Horns are a key
                California, USA                                                                        target for poachers, as they are highly prized in traditional
                E. J. MILNER-GULLAND Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK           Chinese medicine (Chan, ). Consequently, males have
                Received  May . Revision requested  September .                            been hunted intensively, resulting in heavily skewed sex ra-
                Accepted  October . First published online  March .                        tios and reproductive collapse (Milner-Gulland et al., ).

                                                                                           Oryx, 2018, 52(4), 736–743 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001624
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001624
Saiga horn consumption in Singapore                      737

              Following conservation action the species started to recover,                          Methods
              but a catastrophic mass die-off from bacterial infection of
              . , individuals (. % of the global population)                                 Pre-survey
              in Kazakstan in May  and an ongoing epidemic in
              Mongolia (which may kill up to % of the Saiga                                        A questionnaire was formulated in English and Mandarin
              t. mongolica population) have undermined this recovery,                                (Supplementary Material ). Although vendors of tradi-
              putting the Betpak-Dala and Mongolian populations in a                                 tional Chinese medicine mentioned non-local purchasers
              critical situation (Bonn, ; SCA, ). Together, the                              of saiga horn in an earlier market survey (specifically
              disease outbreaks and the ongoing poaching, especially of                              tourists from mainland China; Theng & Krishnasamy,
              males for their horns, have resulted in saiga antelopes facing                         in press), only local Chinese Singaporeans were surveyed.
              an uncertain future (SCA, ).                                                       Non-Chinese people were excluded from the study to focus
                  To protect the species, it was listed on Appendix II of                            on the core demographic of users of traditional Chinese
              CITES in . It was categorized as Critically Endangered                             medicine.
              on the IUCN Red List in  (Mallon, ). All saiga                                     The questionnaire consisted of three parts. The first
              range countries have implemented moratoria on hunting                                  comprised questions about the respondent’s socio-
              and trade of the species at various times during –                                 demographic attributes, including consumption and pur-
              , which effectively means that no export of saiga horn                             chase of traditional Chinese medicine. The respondents
              is permitted from range countries until the species’ conser-                           were then categorized as either users (consumed saiga
              vation status improves (CMS, ). Legal international                                horn product in the previous  months) or non- or lapsed
              trade in saiga horn remained high during –, at                                 users (did not consume saiga horn product in the previous
              , kg, the largest importers being China (, kg),                               months). Users completed Section A, comprising ques-
              Singapore (, kg) and Japan (, kg; Meibom et al.,                             tions about their consumption behaviour in relation to
              ). Singapore played an important role as the main                                  saiga horn products, trends between past and present use,
              hub of the saiga horn trade in South-east Asia, importing                              and motivations for consumption. Non- and lapsed users
              mainly from the Russian Federation and Hong Kong                                       completed Section B, containing questions about past use
              and re-exporting mainly to China, Malaysia and Hong                                    (.  months previously) and motivations for non-
              Kong (Meibom et al., ). A  study focused on                                    consumption or recent non-consumption of saiga horn pro-
              Singapore’s international and domestic saiga horn trade                                ducts. Both sections included questions about the use of
              found that although legal import of horns had declined by                              alternatives to saiga horn (synthetic, animal- or plant-based
              % over the previous decade, Singapore’s stockpile of                                 products) and the reasons for their use instead of saiga horn
              horns continues to fuel high-quantity exports to Hong                                  products. The questionnaire was revised following a pilot
              Kong, China and Malaysia, and to supply the domestic                                   survey of  respondents in the Choa Chu Kang neighbour-
              trade in saiga products (Theng & Krishnasamy, in press).                               hood conducted a month prior to this study.
              Because of the domestic stockpile, consumption of saiga                                    Based on several vendors in an earlier market survey
              products is legal in Singapore, and products are displayed                             identifying elderly Chinese Singaporeans as their main local
              and bought openly. Of the  Chinese medical halls                                    clientele for saiga horn products (Theng & Krishnasamy,
              surveyed, % sold some form of saiga horn (whole horns,                               in press), we biased our sampling towards elderly people
              shavings, cooling water, tablets, tea; Theng & Krishnasamy,                            (.  years; % of our sample), with the middle-aged
              in press), which was often displayed prominently and                                   (– years) and young (– years) each comprising
              spoken about openly by vendors. The ongoing availability                               % of respondents.
              of the product in shops suggests there continues to be
              a demand, prompting the need to gain an understand-                                    Survey administration
              ing of saiga horn consumption among the Singapore
              populace.                                                                              The questionnaires were completed by  Singaporean re-
                  We attempted to gain an understanding of consumer                                  spondents, and were either self-administered or adminis-
              insights and awareness levels by surveying Chinese                                     tered through face-to-face interviews by MT and an
              Singaporeans to () gauge the prevalence of consumption                                assistant (both Chinese Singaporeans). In October and
              of saiga horn products, () identify the demographics of                               November , survey sessions were conducted during
              users, non-users and lapsed users of saiga horn products,                              .–. in nine public housing-dominated neighbour-
              () identify consumption and purchase behaviours relating                              hoods (Bishan, Bukit Merah, Chinatown, Jurong East,
              to saiga horn products, () identify the motivations and bar-                          Jurong West, Serangoon, Tampines, Woodlands, Yishun;
              riers to consuming the products, and () gauge their level of                          Supplementary Fig. ). The locations and times were se-
              understanding of the conservation status and harvest of the                            lected based on the likelihood of people from a variety of
              saiga antelope.                                                                        socio-economic backgrounds being available. Given

              Oryx, 2018, 52(4), 736–743 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001624
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001624
738         M. Theng et al.

                constraints of time and cost, potential respondents were tar-                          Users
                geted based on their likely willingness to complete a ques-
                tionnaire (e.g. someone waiting for a friend rather than                               The most commonly used saiga horn product was bottled
                rushing to work). Respondents were instructed to complete                              ‘fresh’ saiga water (%), followed by shavings (%),
                the questionnaire in their preferred language (English or                              bottled ‘supermarket’ saiga water (%) and tablets (%;
                Mandarin), with interviewers present to clarify questions                              Plate ). Only one user had used a whole horn, which has
                when required. Some respondents requested that questions                               to be shaved down and boiled before being consumed. In
                be read aloud in an interview format. To minimize self-                                shops, horn shavings are usually sold in small amounts by
                selection bias, potential respondents were asked if they                               weight or ready-packaged with herbs. Fresh saiga water is
                were willing to participate in a general survey about trad-                            made out of horn shavings that have been boiled with
                itional Chinese medicine, without describing the topic or in-                          water and packaged into bottles for sale in traditional
                tent. To protect respondents’ anonymity and minimize                                   Chinese medicine shops, for immediate consumption.
                survey sensitivity, no personal data that could be used to                             This is different from supermarket saiga water, which is a
                identify individuals were collected. We used the face-to-face                          widely available brand of cooling water that does not con-
                approach because it garners better response rates than on-                             tain animal products and that consumers often mistake
                line, mail or telephone surveys and is usually more represen-                          for containing ling yang jiao. Tablets usually contain saiga
                tative of the population compared to online surveys (Groves                            horn in trace amounts of , % and are sold as remedies
                et al., ; Szolnoki & Hoffmann, ).                                              for cold and fever.
                                                                                                           For most users, overall consumption had not changed in
                                                                                                       the previous – years (%). Saiga horn products were ob-
                Data analyses                                                                          tained from a variety of sources: franchise/chain stores
                                                                                                       (%), privately owned stores (%), family/friends (%)
                Responses were accepted for analysis if the first section on                           and others (%). Regarding the users’ motivations for
                demographics was completed. Statistical analysis of the sur-                           their most recent consumption of saiga horn, more young
                vey data was performed using R v. .. (R Development                                 people than middle-aged or older indicated that an elder
                Core Team, ). Chi-square tests were used to determine                              or family member had bought it for them, and that it had
                whether there was a significant difference between expected                            been recommended by a family member or friend (Fig. ),
                and observed frequencies of consumption behaviour be-                                  whereas higher numbers of middle-aged and old people
                tween the groups.                                                                      had made the decision themselves to consume saiga horn.
                                                                                                       However, the differences were not statistically significant.
                                                                                                           Fluctuations in price (by ± %) and not knowing any-
                Results
                                                                                                       one else who used saiga horn products did not appear to
                We obtained responses from  Chinese Singaporeans                                    be considerations in consumption decisions among most
                ( elderly,  middle-aged and  young;  female,                                 users (Fig. ). Most respondents said they would stop con-
                 male). Overall, % had consumed saiga horn pro-                                   suming saiga horn if these products were banned or if they
                ducts recently (in the previous  months), with an add-                               learnt that the harvest threatened the survival of saiga in the
                itional % having consumed the product more than                                    wild or was cruel.
                months previously (lapsed users). Our data indicate a re-
                lationship between age class and saiga horn use                                        Lapsed/non-users
                (χ = ., n = , df = , P = .), reflecting a higher
                prevalence of recent consumption among younger people                                  Among the  respondents who had not consumed saiga
                (– years; % prevalence) compared to middle-aged                                  horn in the previous  months, % had consumed it
                (– years; % prevalence) and elderly people (.                                  previously (i.e. lapsed users) and % had never consumed
                years; % prevalence).                                                                 it (i.e. non-users). Slightly more than half of the lapsed users
                    General traditional Chinese medicine consumption and                               had not consumed saiga horn in more than  years (%),
                purchase behaviours differed between the users and lapsed/                             % had consumed it within the previous – years, and
                non-users. Recent users of saiga horn product were more                                % had consumed it in the previous – years. No signifi-
                likely to have also consumed and purchased other tradition-                            cant differences were found between the reasons given by
                al Chinese medicinal products recently compared to lapsed/                             lapsed and non-users for stopping/not consuming saiga
                non-users of saiga horn product (consumption:  vs %,                               horn, except that more non-users selected ‘elder/family
                χ = ., n = , P = .; purchase: . vs .%,                               stopped buying for me’ (Fig. ). The most popular reason
                χ = ., n = , P = .). There were no significant dif-                        given by lapsed and non-users for stopping/not consuming
                ferences in gender, education level or income level between                            saiga horn was not having a use or need for it ( and %,
                users and lapsed/non-users.                                                            respectively). Among the  respondents who stated that

                                                                                           Oryx, 2018, 52(4), 736–743 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001624
Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 46.4.80.155, on 06 Nov 2021 at 16:06:46, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001624
Saiga horn consumption in Singapore                      739

              PLATE 1 Saiga horn products available in Singapore: (a) whole horns, (b) shavings, (c) tablets, (d) cooling waters, and (e) a brand of
              cooling water available from supermarkets, which does not contain saiga horn.

              people had stopped buying horn for them, there were sig-                               respondents were aware that there were regulations on
              nificantly fewer old people than young and middle aged                                 saiga horn trade (users: .%; lapsed: %; non-users: %; un-
              (χ = ., P = .).                                                               categorised: .%). Of these, only two answered correctly
                                                                                                     that only licensed products can be sold;  did not know,
                                                                                                     and  answered incorrectly. Similarly, few were aware of
              Reasons for using saiga horn or alternatives                                           the status of the saiga in the wild, with % of all respon-
                                                                                                     dents saying they did not know, and only % giving the cor-
              The main reason for consuming saiga horn was significantly
                                                                                                     rect answer (that the saiga occurs in several countries and
              different among users, lapsed users and non-users
                                                                                                     some populations are declining). A higher proportion of
              (χ = ., n = , P = .e−; Fig. ). Among users and
                                                                                                     respondents were aware that saiga are killed in the wild
              lapsed users saiga horn is still widely believed to be effective
                                                                                                     for their horns and meat, but awareness that this is the
              as a coolant and for releasing toxins to cure related ailments
                                                                                                     case was still low (%). The majority did not know or
              such as fevers and sore throats (users: %; lapsed users:
                                                                                                     did not want to comment about the harvest method
              %). Among those who had not consumed saiga horn,
                                                                                                     (%). When asked if they thought saiga horns could
              % thought reducing ‘heatiness’ was the main reason
                                                                                                     grow back after being cut off, a third of lapsed and non-users
              others consumed it, but most indicated that they did not
                                                                                                     correctly answered ‘no’ (%), and % of users answered
              know or did not want to answer (%).
                                                                                                     incorrectly.
                 There was no significant difference between the groups
              in their use of alternatives (χ = ., n = , P = .;
              Fig. ). Synthetic alternatives such as paracetamol appeared                           Discussion
              to be the most popular alternative to saiga horn used in the
                                                                                                     The main aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of
              previous  months (users: % users; lapsed/non-users:
                                                                                                     saiga horn consumption among the Singaporean Chinese
              %), followed by plant-based alternatives such as herbal
                                                                                                     population and their motivations for doing so. On a broader
              tea (users: %; lapsed/non-users: %), and none of the sta-
                                                                                                     level, we wanted to understand general consumption and
              ted alternatives (users: %; lapsed/non-users: %). None
                                                                                                     purchase behaviours, and the level of knowledge about the
              of the saiga horn users indicated use of an animal-based al-
                                                                                                     status and conservation of the saiga. This is the first study of
              ternative (e.g. horns from other species) and only three
                                                                                                     the consumers of a wildlife product in Singapore and pro-
              lapsed/non-users indicated their recent use of such an alter-
                                                                                                     vides baseline information upon which further behavioural
              native. Among the reasons given for the use of alternatives
                                                                                                     intervention studies can be founded. As the study was con-
              instead of saiga horn, the most cited among the users was
                                                                                                     ducted only in neighbourhoods dominated by public hous-
              that alternatives were more readily available than saiga
                                                                                                     ing, our responses may be limited to low- to middle-class
              horn (%). In the lapsed and non-user group the main rea-
                                                                                                     citizens. Furthermore, given the small sample size and the
              son was that they had not considered using saiga horn (%).
                                                                                                     possibility of confusion of saiga with other horn products
                                                                                                     (particularly when purchased as shavings), any trends
              Awareness                                                                              should not be taken to be a conclusive representation of
                                                                                                     the volume of trade in saiga horn.
              Awareness of the regulations regarding saiga horn use, the                                 As expected from the availability of saiga products in the
              species’ status and harvest methods was consistently low                               Singapore market (Theng & Krishnasamy, in press), there
              across all user groups and ages. Only % (n = ) of all                              appears to be relatively high ongoing use of saiga horn

              Oryx, 2018, 52(4), 736–743 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001624
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001624
740         M. Theng et al.

                                                                                                       FIG. 2 The factors that Chinese Singaporean users of saiga horn
                FIG. 1 Reasons for the most recent consumption of saiga horn                           products (n = ) reported would or would not lead to a change
                among Chinese Singaporean users of saiga horn products                                 in their personal consumption of those products.
                (n = ), by age group.

                FIG. 3 Reasons for stopping or not consuming saiga horn
                                                                                                       FIG. 4 The main reasons for consumption of saiga horn
                products, according to lapsed users (n = ) and non-users
                                                                                                       products, according to users (n = ), lapsed users (n = ) and
                (n = ) among a sample of Chinese Singaporeans. Respondents
                                                                                                       non-users (n = ) among a sample of Chinese Singaporeans.
                were allowed to select up to three reasons.

                products in Singapore, and the trade does not appear to be                             products; however, this did not differentiate between pro-
                in decline. Contrary to our assumption that the main local                             ducts depending on their specific target demographic (Liu
                consumers of saiga horn are elderly, based on pre-                                     et al., ). Several studies on the level of use of traditional
                vious remarks by Chinese medicine vendors (Theng &                                     Chinese medicine in Taiwan, and one in Australia, found a
                Krishnasamy, in press), that age group had the lowest preva-                           similar trend, that use of traditional Chinese medicine
                lence of recent consumption, followed by the middle-aged                               peaked in younger adults (c.  years old) and was lowest
                (– years) and the young (– years). The significant                             among older adults (– years old), although it is not
                difference in use could be attributed to the general belief                            known why (Sherwood, ; Chen et al., ; Daly
                that saiga horn is more effective in treating the young and                            et al., ; Shih et al., ). The same studies in Taiwan
                that the cooling effects of the product may be detrimental                             found that females were more likely than males to use trad-
                to the health of the elderly, a point made by several elderly                          itional Chinese medicine, a finding not reflected in our
                respondents during the survey. The elderly may often pur-                              study. We found that recent users of saiga horn were
                chase products for the consumption of their younger kin, as                            more likely than lapsed/non-users to have consumed and
                a higher number of young respondents compared to both                                  purchased other traditional Chinese medicinal products
                the older age groups indicated as reasons for their most re-                           recently.
                cent consumption that an elder or family member had pur-                                   Our study suggests that consumption behaviour is not
                chased saiga products for them or that a family member or                              particularly price sensitive. Previous studies have demon-
                friend had recommended it. This suggests there may be                                  strated a similar phenomenon, that consumers of traditional
                some intergenerational influence on the consumption of                                 Chinese medicine are willing to pay high prices for wild-
                saiga horn, which could be leveraged in future behavioural                             sourced animal products because they believe that these
                change campaigns. A similar study of the consumption of                                products are more potent (Gratwicke et al., ; Dutton
                animal products in traditional Chinese medicine in                                     et al., ). Saiga horn products are relatively expensive
                Beijing found the reverse, that older people were more likely                          compared to the products they are grouped with in shops;
                than younger people to consume animal-based medicinal                                  for example, of the range of cooling waters routinely on

                                                                                           Oryx, 2018, 52(4), 736–743 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001624
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001624
Saiga horn consumption in Singapore                      741

                                                                                                     more widely available; however, a quarter of saiga horn
                                                                                                     users said they did not use a substitute.
                                                                                                        Given the exploratory nature of this study, our observa-
                                                                                                     tions and suggestions are neither representative nor conclu-
                                                                                                     sive. Future studies could explore promoting the use of
                                                                                                     effective synthetic alternatives, which are cheaper and
                                                                                                     more readily available than saiga horn, to treat fever, and
                                                                                                     consumption of herbal tea to cool the body. There is a
                                                                                                     need for a deeper understanding of the thought process in-
                                                                                                     volved in deciding between the use of saiga horn or an alter-
                                                                                                     native to treat an ailment, as conservation awareness alone
              FIG. 5 Proportion of users (n = ), lapsed users (n = ) and                         may not drive behavioural change and subsequent demand
              non-users (n = ) of saiga horn products, among a sample of                           reduction (Lertzman & Baragona, ). It is important to
              Chinese Singaporeans, that consume various alternatives to saiga                       investigate the attitudes saiga horn users generally have to-
              horn.
                                                                                                     wards traditional Chinese medicine versus Western medi-
                                                                                                     cine; for example, in Hong Kong some consumers of
              sale, the majority cost c. SGD , compared to SGD  for saiga                          traditional medicine perceive that Western medicine is
              water (authors, pers. obs.). This may be because saiga water                           sometimes too powerful, with significant side effects, and
              is generally considered to be particularly strong and effective                        prefer traditional medicine because it is believed to cure
              as a cooling product (authors, pers. obs.).                                            the root of the problem (Lam, ).
                  Awareness about regulations, status and harvest methods
              relating to the saiga was low. Most respondents knew ling
              yang jiao as a traditional Chinese medicinal product and                               Future research perspectives
              understood its effects, but did not know much more than
              that. Although this product is widely available and well                               This study was the first in Singapore to examine consumer
              known among the local Chinese community in Singapore,                                  relationships with a traditional Chinese medicinal product
              there is a need to explain the harvesting methods used                                 derived from a Critically Endangered species. Although sug-
              and the status of the species, which may have an impact                                gestive findings emerged, the study was exploratory in na-
              on consumer behaviour. According to respondents they                                   ture. Sampling was opportunistic and focused on older
              would be most likely to stop consuming saiga horn if the                               consumers, and the sample size was small. Despite the rela-
              product was banned, if the practice caused the saiga to be                             tively high prevalence of saiga horn use, the number of re-
              threatened or if harvest practices were cruel (Fig. ), indicat-                       cent users was small, and therefore any trends derived
              ing potential for raising conservation awareness to reduce                             should not be considered to be a conclusive representation
              demand. It has previously been argued that conservation                                of the population. Future surveys could be randomized to
              awareness has an important impact on consumer behaviour                                improve representativeness. It will also be important to
              in the wildlife trade context (Nowell & Xu, ; Wasser &                             examine whether saiga horn consumption is a sensitive
              Jiao, ). It has been effective in decreasing the demand                            issue, potentially necessitating an indirect questioning
              for shark fin in Singapore (WWF Singapore, ) and                                   method (Nuno & St. John, ), and to investigate its
              could also be leveraged to reduce the trade in saiga horn.                             price sensitivity.
              A study in Beijing found that as conservation awareness                                    This research is being used to guide and inform more de-
              among survey respondents increased, they were more likely                              tailed research underlying behavioural change interven-
              to choose substitutes and less likely to choose wild-sourced                           tions. This includes understanding the motivations and
              animal-based traditional medicinal products (Liu et al.,                               demographics of users of traditional Chinese medicine, to
              ). It appears that many of our respondents already use                             design and implement effective behavioural change cam-
              alternatives to saiga horn, generally to cool the body and                             paigns. Too often, campaigns are implemented without a
              cure related ailments such as fever. The use of horns from                             robust foundation in behavioural science (Olmedo et al.,
              other species (i.e. water buffalo Bubalus bubalis, sheep                               ). This survey lays the foundation for a more detailed
              Ovis aries and goat Capra hircus) as substitutes does not ap-                          understanding of the identity and attitudes of the consu-
              pear to be popular, possibly because they are perceived as                             mers of a particularly important medicinal product, saiga
              being too weak to cure ailments such as persistent fevers (ac-                         horn, in a relatively understudied but important consumer
              cording to vendors) or are usually sold in the form of shav-                           group, Chinese Singaporeans. We have shown that saiga
              ings rather than the more popular cooling waters (Theng &                              horn use is relatively prevalent, awareness of the conserva-
              Krishnasamy, in press). The synthetic alternative (Western                             tion issues and relevant legislation is low, and younger peo-
              medicine, e.g. paracetamol) is popular mostly because it is                            ple in particular are using saiga products, especially cooling

              Oryx, 2018, 52(4), 736–743 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001624
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001624
742         M. Theng et al.

                water. These results suggest that an awareness-raising cam-                                     CMS (C O N V E N T I O N O N M I G R AT O R Y S P E C I E S ) () Third Meeting
                paign that focuses on this demographic group and product                                            of the Signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning
                                                                                                                    Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of the Saiga Antelope
                type may be a useful approach to reducing consumption of
                                                                                                                    Tashkent, Uzbekistan, – October . UNEP/CMS Secretariat,
                saiga horn; such a campaign is now under development by                                             Bonn, Germany.
                E. J. Milner-Gulland and Hunter Doughty. It is also vital to                                    CMS (C O N V E N T I O N O N M I G R AT O R Y S P E C I E S ) () Saiga Antelope:
                investigate the prevalence and characteristics of the trade in                                      National Reports. Memorandum of Understanding Concerning
                saiga products in other countries and online, to tackle the                                         Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of the Saiga
                                                                                                                    Antelope. Http://www.cms.int/saiga/en/documents/
                dearth of information about the trade in this Critically
                                                                                                                    national-reports/ [accessed  October ].
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                                                                                                                    workers living in Taiwan. BMC Health Services Research, , .
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