Exotic Animal Meats on VIP Menu at Zoo
Posted on: Thursday, 17 November 2005, 03:00 CST
BANGKOK, Thailand - VIP guests at the grand opening of the night safari zoo in northern Thailand will not only get to see exotic animals - they'll get to taste them.
The Chiang Mai Night Safari Zoo will have its official opening on New Year's Day, and the "Exotic Buffet" marking the event will include tiger, lion, elephant and giraffe, said Plodprasop Suraswadi, the director of the zoo project.
"The VIP guest who pay 4,500 baht ($110) for the buffet will have the privilege of tasting an exotic menu, ranging from dog meat from (Thailand's Sakhon Nakhon province) to lion meat from Africa," Plodprasop told reporters.
Critics have lambasted the idea, saying that it will encourage wildlife trafficking in a country and region already notorious for smuggling tiger parts, bear claws and endangered species for Chinese delicacies, traditional medicines and pets.
"Serving rare animals on the table confirms that Thailand is ignoring policies for wildlife preservation," said Wildlife Fund Thailand secretary Suraphol Duangkae.
"Thailand's image is already bad for trading animals and being a transit and laundering point (for smugglers)," Suraphol said. "The zoo will make only the image worse by serving rare animals."
Kenya said last week it will give Thailand 175 wild animals - including African buffalo, various species of antelope, zebra and giraffe - as a gift to strengthen relations, but conservationists voiced concern that Thailand does not have a good track record of wildlife management and conservation.
The project, based on Singapore's Night Safari Zoo, will have 2,000 animals of about 100 different species.
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
Related Articles
- New Office Fights Exotic Species in N.Y.
- Freed Exotic Pets Are a Fast-Growing Problem
- Zoos Targets for Exotic Animal Thieves
- Exotic Lizard an Unwelcome Newcomer in Florida
- A Field Study of Host Tree Associations of an Exotic Species, the Asiatic Oak Weevil [Cyrtepistomus Castaneus (Roelofs 1873), Coleoptera: Curculionidae]
- Red, Catlike Animal May Be a New Species
- Where the Wild Things Are ; Observe Native, Migrating and Exotic Species at Nearby Parks and Refuges
- Look at the Humans, Daddy! Zoo Introduces New Species
- Thai Zoo Halts Orangutan Boxing Matches
- Scientists Seek to Add More Species to Endangered List
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds