Beijing Zoo lets visitors admire, then eat wildlife

[Psephos]

Source: CS Monitor

Hey kids, wanna go to the zoo today and look at the crocodiles? And then maybe eat one?

The Beijing Zoo puts crocodiles, kangaroos, antelope, and hippopotamuses on display. Its restaurant puts them on its menu.

The meat might be pungent, but the concept seems somewhat tasteless. The Beijing Zoo puts the same animals on its restaurant menu as it keeps behind bars.
Crocodile, kangaroo, antelope, and hippopotamus are among the species that visitors can go the zoo to admire on the hoof, and then savor at lunch – steamed, braised, or roasted – at the Bin Feng Tang restaurant. This has been going on for years, according to the restaurant’s manager, who seemed surprised that a newspaper article this week about her establishment should cause a stir on the Chinese Internet.

The news has not gone down well. “How would you feel, watching animals imprisoned in a limited space while eating their siblings?” asked Zheng Yuanjie, a well-known author, on his blog.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0520/Beijing-Zoo-lets-visitors-admire-eat-wildlife

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Meanwhile, Chinese astronauts feast on dog on their missions.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7718570/Dog-on-the-menu-for-Chinese-astronauts.html

[rayofreason]

1. Panda Express anyone? n/t

[underseasurveyor]

31. LOL

[sandnsea]

2. feasting on dog

I've said before that providing dog and cat meat to other cultures is a far better means of managing our pet population than euthanasia and incineration.

No need to flame. I know it's not a popular idea.

[phleshdef]

5. Yea, I think I'll bury my dog and buy the same family a turkey or something.

No friggin way is anyone eating someone who is practically a family member.

[sandnsea]

7. That's not what I was referring to

I was referring to the thousands of dogs and cats that aren't anybody's family member. They're just dropped off at pounds and killed.

And I'm not recommending we start handing out dogs instead of turkeys at Thanksgiving either. I specifically said other cultures that don't have a problem with dog or cat meat. It just doesn't seem practical for people to starve when we could send them cat and dog meat. We aren't going to send them free turkeys, so I don't even know why you'd pretend that we would.

[hlthe2b]

8. How about those unwanted kids?

I mean if we are going to be so pragmatic?




:sarcasm:

[sandnsea]

10. Yeah, because we euthanize and incinerate kids

:crazy:

Has the entire country given up thinking?

[hlthe2b]

19. Your premise is no less repulsive.

Sorry, sandnsea, but I think you knew when you proposed marketing our excess pet population as food, you would really push the buttons. We already devalue the lives of cattle, goats, sheep and other "food animals." When we keep moving the line, where does it end?

[Rage for Order]

23. "Devalue the lives of cattle, goats, sheep...where does it end?"

Perhaps you've heard of this thing called "abortion"?

[sandnsea]

25. No less repulsive than killing kids??

Remember, that was YOUR thought, not mine.

[Statistical]

26. So euthanizing a dog/cat and then burning the corpse somehow "devalues them" less?

Reality is we have hundreds of millions of stray domesticated animals due to owner negligence.
So we (as a society) roundup and kill millions of them each year.

At least in China they don't waste the resources and burn them in an incinerator (wasting even more resources).
I don't think a dog that ends up as a meal for a family in China is "devalued" any more than a dog who is euthanized and then ends up in a stack of animals awaiting incineration at your local SPCA.

[Travis Coates]

33. Yeah, because we euthanize and incinerate kids

I thought that was Planned Parenthood's main mission

[aquart]

3. What genius thought of this?

[sandnsea]

9. There's an aquarium up the highway about 40 miles

People go there and see the salmon swimming, the crab, all kinds of seafood.

And then they go to dinner at one of many seafood restaurants.

You've never spent the day at the farm with the kids or grandkids, and then went out for steak or burgers on the way home??

I don't know the Chinese culture, but I think we're all pretty quick to jump without considering our own eating habits.

[alp227]

4. I remember going to the Beijing Zoo as a kid in 2001 or so.

Now I'm reading this, and hardly can they be considered a zoo anymore. This is disrespect towards wildlife.

[begin_within]

6. As if that's not disgusting enough, look at what Wal-Marts in China sell...

Warning: truly icky.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/16-products-they-only-sell-at-chinese-walmarts/

[Oregone]

11. Hm. Does this apply to penguins too?

I mean really...have you smelled those things? I wouldn't want to eat them

[jberryhill]

12. Like picking a lobster out of the tank

African safari, anyone? Mmmmmmm.... wildebeest.

[boppers]

13. Ah, city folks.

Always predictable to be shocked, shocked I tell you, that animals they eat are, well... animals.

[hlthe2b]

21. Product of a midwestern farming grandfather, here...

and have seen it all, including slaughterhouses and poultry processing plants. While I advocate for humane practices and have decreased the amount of meat I eat, I am not a vegetarian. Nonetheless, I find this to be inconsistent with the mission of zoos and unnecessarily provocative.

[Meldread]

14. LOL. I probably shouldn't laugh, because it isn't any different than...

...taking the kids down to the local farm to see the chickens and cows. Then for lunch stopping at KFC to grab a double down, and then for dinner at home eating a nice juicy steak. :P

Or as someone else pointed out, visiting by the aquarium, enjoying all the sites... then stopping at Red Lobster for dinner on the way home.

[Tunkamerica]

15. don't all the aquariums in the us have seafood restaurants?

the 3-4 i've been to did

[Kablooie]

16. I was at a zoo in Taiwan and overheard a visitor look at a deer and say "Looks delicious."

My wife, who speaks Chinese, translated his comment for me.

[DesertDiamond]

17. That's just so grotesque.

[Duppers]

18. eating dogs !

no words except damn! damn, damn....

[Skink]

20. In the US chickens can't walk because of the need for white meat.

[JitterbugPerfume]

22. the whole concept of eating other mammals is disgusting

yet, we do it.

[The Straight Story]

24. Kind of like going to red lobster, picking out lobster, and killing it up real good like for dinner

:)

[truthisfreedom]

27. As long as we raise animals for food, we have no right to create these culture conflicts.

It's nothing short of pure hypocrisy.

[Swamp Rat]

28. Maybe they can put Ted Nugent on display?

:D

[Liberal_in_LA]

29. ugh

[MadHound]

30. And yet all across America the little ones are taken to petting zoos,

Where they can meet and get to know sheep, goats, ponies, pigs, cows and other livestock, just down the road from eateries that serve hamburgers, gyros, pork steak, kibobs, etc.

No much difference in my opinion:shrug:

[truthisfreedom]

32. At the state fair the petting zoo is surrounded by booths where you can smell the animals you're

petting being turned into delicious snacks.

[Prometheus Bound]

34. We have a bison park in my city in Canada and bison burgers are a top item at the park restaurant.

[JBoy]

35. All aboard for the smorgasbord!!