(CN) Wildlife back on the menu in Guangdong

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South China Morning Post

http://china.scmp.com/chimain/ZZZYGSM47UE.html

Saturday, November 18, 2006

 

Four years after Sars, and as winter approaches, consumption of exotic

animals is on the rise again

 

by LEU SIEW YING in Guangzhou

 

Bees and ants steeped in wine are good for virility, and toads

nourish the blood, businessman Ah Wu says. But he has paid the price for his

taste for exotic fare.

 

" I ate four fried bees once and it was too much for me, " he

said. " I had to get four injections for an allergic reaction. "

 

It is normal for villagers in Panyu , where he is from, to enjoy

inexpensive but exotic fare like ants, bees, snakes and donkeys, as well as

toads, which are banned.

 

And to do business, and get around the law in Guangzhou's food

paradise, businesspeople still order a pangolin or a monitor lizard hotpot

for those they seek favours from. Ah Wu had his last taste of banned

wildlife two weeks ago when he took several friends from a district court to

dinner to seek their help, and they ordered monitor lizard hotpot.

 

" We normally can't afford to eat such exotic wildlife, but I had

to ask them for help. I let them do the ordering and they ordered monitor

lizard. It cost me 1,000 yuan, " the businessman said.

 

Wildlife consumption is on the rise again, four years after the

Sars scare and as cold weather approaches, when people traditionally take

tonics to boost their health.

 

Sars expert Zhong Nanshan , however, has warned people not to

take any risks. " Even though Sars appears to have left us, we can't rule out

the hidden dangers. So let's not relax our guard and eat masked palm civets

and other wild animals, " Dr Zhong said.

 

Masked palm civets carried the virus that triggered the disease

that spooked the world in 2002 and 2003, but it has not resurfaced in the

past two winters.

 

Residents of Panyu have not stopped eating wildlife, although

one businessman who regularly did said he had cut down after Sars and

because he did not think it was doing him any good.

 

" I only order it when I am doing business and have to entertain

my customers. Some people ate less wildlife after Sars, but they are eating

more now because they think it's good for their health. Nobody's eating

masked palm civets. "

 

He alleged many top officials ate wildlife. Their favourites

included snakes and toads.

 

The supervisor of a restaurant at Guangzhou's World Trade Centre

said she had previously worked at a restaurant on Yinyuan Road that served

wildlife.

 

" Most people eat wildlife in autumn to store up goodness for the

winter months. It's illegal but if you are friendly with the restaurant

manager you can order pangolin and sometimes bear paw, " she said.

 

Pangolin, which cost 1,000 yuan per 500 grams, is served in a

hotpot, steamed or braised, and is prized for its supposedly

anti-carcinogenic qualities.

 

The supervisor said customers were the rich and people who

wanted to try new things. " Disease is not a concern, " she said.

 

Cheng Jianhua, a cancer specialist at the Guangdong Traditional

Hospital, said Chinese medicine did not specifically

encourage the consumption of wildlife.

 

" It's just Guangdong people who are brave. They eat what others

don't eat. They are not afraid to die, but we don't believe it is suitable

to eat wildlife. There is no truth in the nutrition and health claims. They

eat it because they have never eaten it before and because wild animals

taste better.

 

" It's a Guangdong thing. Otherwise you would find people

consuming wild animals for medicinal reasons all over the country. "

 

Dr Cheng said claims about the pangolin's anti-carcinogenic

properties had not been proven, but had a psychological effect on patients.

" It is expensive so it is effective. People feel better and this does help

in medicine, " he said.

 

Guangzhou forestry authorities discovered 773 cases of trading

in wild animals between January and November, in rented houses in the

neighbourhood of the former Xinyuan Wildlife Market, which was closed in the

aftermath of Sars.

 

The department has stepped up its crackdown with back-to-back

campaigns since last year, and recently seized 500 wild animals including

masked palm civets in one location and 146 monitor lizards in another

restaurant.

 

A China Wildlife Protection Association survey last year found

the number of restaurants serving wildlife had dropped by 66 per cent, but

22.8 per cent more processed wildlife was being sold in markets as more

farms raised wild animals.

 

The survey found 20 new species of wild animals were being bred

on farms, taking the number to 80, to meet demand in Guangdong, Guangxi and

Hainan .

 

It also showed that 71.7 per cent of people surveyed said they

had not eaten wildlife in the past year - 40.3 percentage points more than

in 1999. They attributed their abstention to fear of Sars and bird flu.