(MY) Appetite for exotic meats is aiding extinction

[Guest guest]

Sunday, March 18, 2007

South China Morning Post

http://asia.scmp.com/asianews/ZZZ0IZ5XBZE.html

ASSOCIATED PRESS in Kuala Lumpur

 

Restaurants selling exotic meat in Malaysia are said to be

contributing to the extinction of endangered species as the ever-

scarcer delicacies fetch steadily higher prices.

 

The animals that end up on dinner plates at the country's illegally

operated restaurants include tigers, bears, pythons, macaques,

porcupines, panthers and civet cats, the New Straits Times said.

 

Many of these species are nearly extinct.

 

" The protected species can only be saved if these people change their

eating habits, " Malaysia's Wildlife Department enforcement division

director, Misliah Mohamed Basir, said, according to the newspaper.

 

Mrs Misliah said only eight exotic-animal-restaurant owners had been

prosecuted in the past five years, according to the report.

 

Even then, the top fine was M$5,000 (HK$11,140).

 

No one has served a jail term even though offenders can be jailed for

up to five years, the paper said.

 

A bowl of bear paw soup can sell for around M$850, while a tiger

penis - thought to increase sexual virility - can fetch up to

M$2,000.

 

Prices have risen because the animals are now harder to obtain, and

because customers believe in their medicinal powers.

 

" With this belief, many restaurateurs are capitalising by charging

exorbitant prices for their meat, " Malaysian Society for the

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals branch director Christine Chin said

in the report.

 

" I am sad that there are those who feel the meat has a [potency],

which is a superstition, " the report quoted her as saying.

 

Wildlife department officials could not be immediately contacted for

comment.