I thought forum readers would be interested in this information from a Wall Street Journal article. the photo attached shows me in a food market that also had live softshelled turtles bagged in net sacks the way baking potatos are packaged here, and other interesting foodstuffs.



"In nearby Guangzhou (China), a city of about 10 million, people eat nearly eight million pounds of snake each year, says Jiang Zhigang, a fellow at the Animal Institute of the chinese Academy of Science," the paper reported.



"Chinese researchers also found that all six SARS patients linked to outbreaks of the disease in four Guangdong cities had eaten or handled wild animals within 20 days of falling ill...the research was muddled by the large range of animals that the people who tested positive work with. Masked palm civets, wild pigs, rabbits and snakes were the most common."



And then a little good news, since commerce has been decimating chinese wildlife, especially turtles:



"Even before the latest findings, Chinese authorities, acting on a hunch, last month banned the capture, transport, sale and purchase of almost all wild animals--dead or alive."



Unfortunately, according to the article compliance is at best sporadic: "The wildlife trade is so lucrative," the article says, "it 'is just like drug trafficking,' says Mr. Jiang Haisheng, professor of the South China Research Institute for endangered Animals."

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