AR-News: (AU) Vanishing species

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Wildlife products at a market in Tachileik.


Vanishing species
By DENIS GRAY
03apr04 
FURRY bear paws lie neatly arranged with skins of jungle cats, monkey skulls, 
mountain goat horns and dried tiger penises. The parts of vanishing species 
from South-East Asia's forests are laid out for Chinese buyers seeking sex 
boosters, cures for cancer and exotic food.

"Very strong. It can fight with a tiger, so it's good for sex," the vendor 
says, pointing to a pair of wild buffalo horns priced at $A165 and explaining 
that in powder form they'll surely enhance virility. 
A sizeable quantity of wildlife is felled to supply dealers in Tachileik, a 
scruffy town on the Thailand-Burma border. But the town is just one node of a 
trade network that funnels fauna and flora from across the region to satisfy a 
seemingly insatiable demand in China. 
There, millions of people still believe rhino horn prevents convulsions, 
pickled turtle flippers increase longevity and fresh snake blood makes a potent 
aphrodisiac. And with China's growing affluence, more can afford exotic wildlife 
dishes once served only at banquets of the elite. 



full story:

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9146674%255E2438
9,00.html 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/attachments/20040402/b6e693b7/attachment.html