Dining Displeasure
How do you know your illegal scaly anteater meat is fresh? In Vietnam, restaurants kill the critically endangered critter at the table.
"A fancy restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City advertises pangolin, bear, porcupine, bat and more on its illustrated menu. Customers interested in pangolin [a.k.a. 'scaly anteater']—sold for $150 a pound—must order it two to three hours in advance and place a deposit based on its weight. When the customer returns for dinner, the manager presents the live pangolin to the table, then slices its throat on the spot to prove that the meat is fresh and has not been substituted. 'Pangolin is very popular with customers, because it treats a lot of sicknesses,' said Quoc Trung, the restaurant manager. His staff will also dry and package pangolin scales left over from dinner—a popular ingredient in traditional medicines that are still covered by Vietnamese health insurance."
—From “In Vietnam, Rampant Wildlife Smuggling Prompts Little Concern,” Rachel Nuwer’s New York Times story about how the illegal trade is devastating wildlife
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