Fw: [animal_net] Exotic beasts on menu at Thai zoo

[Guest guest]

-

" Trisha " <Taliesson

<animal_net >

Saturday, November 19, 2005 8:37 AM

[animal_net] " Exotic beasts on menu at Thai zoo "

 

 

> " Exotic beasts on menu at Thai zoo "

>

> From MARC: " Exotic beasts on menu at Thai zoo "

>

> Please contact Thailand officials as soon as possible about this

> and say that you were planning a vacation in Thailand but now will

> not travel there ever or buy any Thai products unless this atrocity

> is stopped. If anyone can find other working emails to the Thai

> government, please let us know.

>

> Contacts:

> Tourism Authority of Thailand: center

> US Embassy Information Resource Center (IRC) & Public Affairs:

> irc

>

>

> email block to copy/paste: center, irc

>

> In case these get truncated on your computer, replacing the @ with

> the word [at] they are: center [at] tat.or.th and irc [at] state.gov

>

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> SENDING WITHOUT COMMENT. IT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

>

> Batya

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> Exotic beasts on menu at Thai zoo

> Thursday, November 17, 2005 Posted: 0455 GMT (1255 HKT)

>

>

> http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/11/16/thai.animals.ap/index.html

>

> BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- 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.

>

>

>

>

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