INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE (Paris, France) 01 December 06 Alligator soup: Chinese restaurant raises eyebrows with dishes of endangered reptile
(AP) Even in anything-edible-goes-in-the-pot China, the Huifu Fine-food Restaurant is drawing attention with special menu offerings that include alligator kebabs and soup — complete with the endangered species' head and tail.
The restaurant, in the scenic city of Huangshan, in eastern Anhui province, has been doing a roaring business since it started serving alligator dishes last month, staff said Friday.
"Yes, we do serve alligator here, but the amount is limited every day so you'd better book it at least two or three days ahead," said a staffer at the restaurant, who like many media-shy Chinese refused to give his name.
He said the most recommended dishes were alligator steak and soup. "Both of them keep the natural taste of the alligator meat," he said.
The species of alligator served at Huifu, the "alligator sinensis," is a critically endangered species in its natural habitat, with only about 150 thought to be living in the wild in Anhui and neighboring Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces, along the Yangtze river.
Despite the establishment of protection zones and laws against poaching, the population in the wild is falling by 4 percent to 6 percent a year, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The restaurant obtained a special license from the Forestry Ministry for serving meat from reptiles raised at a breeding center, said a manager at the restaurant, who gave only her surname, Lin. She said there were four restaurants in Anhui serving alligator.
The number of farmed alligators has soared to more than 10,000 because the animals breed prolifically in captivity, unlike another Chinese rare species, the giant panda.
"We've been approved by the national forestry ministry for serving alligator meat."
Although breeding centers are struggling to prevent inbreeding among the captive species, the number hatched each year exceeds 1,500.
The Chinese penchant for exotic dishes includes all sorts of creatures, including snakes and other reptiles — "anything that flies, walks or swims," according to one traditional saying.
While some reports questioned the wisdom of stimulating demand for an endangered species and potentially encouraging poaching, supporters say sales of alligator meat and skins can help support efforts to save the species.
The alligators slaughtered for food are only those in the third generation of captive breeding — those most likely to be affected by inbreeding, said Wu Xiaobing, an expert on Chinese alligators at the Wuhu-based College of Life Science, Anhui Normal University.
"In my opinion, there's no problem with this," Wu said.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/01/asia/AS_ODD_China_Alligator_Soup.php
CHINA DAILY (Beijing) 01 December 06 Eating alligator tests conservation ethics
(Xinhua) A restaurant in east China's Anhui Province has triggered a heated debate after putting an extremely endangered alligator species on its menu.
The Huifu Fine-food Restaurant, based in Huangshan City, has been serving Chinese alligator meat since Monday with the approval of the State Forestry Administration (SFA).
An official with the SFA would only say that Chinese alligators can be used for commercial purposes even though they are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
The alligator meat comes from a breeding center that has apparently become too successful. While experts estimate there are only 150 Chinese alligators in the wild, the center has raised 10,000 of them. It started breeding the reptiles in 1979 with a stock of just 200. More than 1,500 are hatched at the center each year.
The manager of the restaurant said he signed an agreement with the Xuancheng Chinese Alligator Breeding and Research Center to provide 200 kilograms of alligator meat a year.
A source with the breeding center said they have also made belts and shoes from the hides of the alligators.
Yet many people are questioning the ethics of eating an endangered species.
"The number of Chinese alligators in captivity has surpassed 10,000, but the number is far from enough to allow their slaughter," said Lu Shunqing, an expert of amphibian reptiles with the Huangshan College based in Anhui Province.
Lu said, the government's investment in protecting the alligators was not supposed to end with alligators on the dinner table.
Eating the meat of endangered animal species goes against the concept of protecting them, said Wu Zhaomin, head of the Huangshan City Research Institute of Anhui Culture. Wu said he would not eat the meat.
"It is unimaginable that the forestry authorities allow people to eat Chinese alligators which are under state protection," said a teacher of the Yucai Secondary School in Huangshan City.
Chinese alligators which have existed for 230 million years are known as a "living fossil." An adult Chinese alligator measures about two meters in length, and with a tail as long as its body.
The alligators feed on small animals such as mice, frogs and birds. The species had been listed as one of the most endangered creatures in the world. Its drastically declining numbers are caused by shrinking and damage to its habitat.
The 150 alligators believed to be living in the wild can be found in pockets in east China's Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. Each year the number of alligators decline by 4 to 6 percent, said sources with the breeding center.
With 1,500 reptiles hatched each year their number has surpassed the mark set for endangered species, said a source, surnamed Zhou, with the breeding center.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-12/01/content_748005.htm
Photo montage at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-11/28/content_745129.htm
