Can domestication of wildlife lead to conservation? The economics of tiger farming in China

► Modeling of the tiger trade indicates enforcement cannot prevent extirpation of wild tigers. ► Conservation payments protect wild tigers, except for an inability to enforce contracts. ► Legal sales of captive-bred tigers can increase wild numbers despite higher demand this causes. ► A monopoly on legal sales protects wild tigers if a ban on non-farmed products is also enforced. ► Protection of habitat and tiger prey prevents further demise of wild tiger populations.