Not on the menu: a conscience

China’s continuing economic development, as has been well documented, is remarkable. As the country edges closer to the Olympics, the heightened focus on China has revealed a rapidly changing society that in some cases — internet and mobile phone habits, for instance — has leapfrogged the United States.

But in other cases, parts of Chinese society seem positively medieval.

Consider the humble pangolin, a critically endangered, scaly ant-eater found in Southeast Asian jungles. Sadly, it is also found on the menu of restaurants in southern China. The Chinese value pangolin meat as a delicacy and they believe the scales help reduce swelling and increase milk production for breast-feeding mothers.

Consider the following cooking advice from a Guangdong chef:

We keep them alive in cages until the customer makes an order. Then we hammer them unconscious, cut their throats and drain the blood. It is a slow death. We then boil them to remove the scales. We cut the meat into small pieces and use it to make a number of dishes, including braised meat and soup. Usually the customers take the blood home with them afterwards.

Thirty-one pangolins have been found among 5,000 endangered animals trapped in a boat adrift off China’s southern coast, as the Guardian reports. Also included on the inverse Noah’s Ark were leatherback turtles, monitor lizards, and 21 bear-paws wrapped in newspaper.

I accept that there are intellectual arguments to justify the cat restaurants (pictures may disturb) of Shenzhen — merely a matter of different cultural codes determining which animals are suitable for consumption and which ones are sacred — but when it comes to endangered species smuggled illegally and treated inhumanely (inanimanely?), then I think it’s time to get angry.

Hat tip: Bills Due