Endangered Animals Ending Up In Asia's Cooking Pots

by Sonny Inbaraj

(IPS) BANGKOK -- The biggest problem facing wildlife in Southeast Asia is its domestic consumption in China where endangered animals are eaten for their supposed health-enhancing qualities.

The figures are indeed staggering. According to WildAid Thailand -- a group in an international network committed to fighting wildlife trafficking -- China alone consumes 12 million tortoises a year for food and medicine.

The cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen consume more than 1,600 tons of snakes a year and meat of the pangolin -- now facing extinction in Thailand and Laos -- fetches about $100 a kilogram in the country.

The Chinese claim that wildlife dishes boost their virility and strengthen immunity to disease. They are also keen consumers of endangered species for traditional cures -- rhino horn, tiger bone and bear gall are all highly sought after.

''Wildlife meat is consumed because of the belief that those who eat it can attain the attributable properties of 'wildness,''' revealed James Compton, the regional director of TRAFFIC's South-east Asia office -- an international treaty agency that monitors trade in wildlife.

''For instance, turtles and tortoises are eaten because they are believed to give long life to those who consume them,'' Compton said at a recent seminar. ''It's not subsistence nutrition -- it's a luxury food item with a perceived medicinal benefit.''

In southern China, diners are willing to fork out over $1,000 for a golden turtle from Laos, the blood of which is said to cure cancer.

Consumption of rare and endangered species is a traditional mark of status in China, and conservationists are at a loss to alter this tradition as the country's economic prosperity fuels demand for exotic dishes.

The Asian giant is the world's sixth-largest economy and fourth-biggest exporter, with a per capita annual gross domestic product of $1,100. Last year, China's economy grew at 9.1 percent.

''With the changes that has taken place in China, meaning the change from a socialistic economy to a more capitalist consumption one -- this demand for wildlife has risen considerably,'' said Senator Kraisak Choonhavan, the chairman of WildAid Thailand.

''It could be for cuisine reasons -- but certainly the demand side from China has risen considerably,'' Kraisak told reporters at a briefing for the 13th Meeting of Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife and Fauna (CITES).

The CITES meeting, which runs till Oct. 14, is hosted by Thailand and will be attended by 166 countries.

About 100 proposals and resolutions on various species of plants and animals will be discussed and debated at this biennial meeting, relating to elephants, snakes, orchids, turtles and other threatened and endangered species.

For ecologists, a complex chain of supply coupled with diversifying consumer demand, makes effective conservation and management of wild species in the region extremely challenging.

''Consumption patterns regularly change with market movements, but the consistent demand for some species favoured in the exotic pet industry; as part of traditional medicine practices; as ornamental decorations; in private zoo collections and as 'tonic food' items is now so high that many species' survival is in peril,'' said TRAFFIC's Compton.

The dominant source of demand for wildlife as food is from southern China, he said.

''There are other countries within South-east Asia where the same species are consumed but the sheer size of the Chinese market, particularly in southern China, is just staggering,'' Compton pointed out.

The East Gate market in Shenzhen is the largest wildlife market in southern China, followed by the Qingping market in Guangzhou.

According to researchers, the wildlife food trade here normally concentrates on particular species and it often shows a peak in winter. Studies show that most of the wildlife consumed is Chinese and Asian species imported from neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

While efforts by conservationists have been partially successful in stemming the flow of certain animal species coming into China in recent years, the cascading effect, however, of wholesale demand has meant that when one species becomes harder to collect, hunters simply move onto the next most available species.

For that reason WildAid, through its Active Conservation Awareness Program (ACAP), has launched an education campaign in wildlife consuming countries to lessen demand.

The ACAP theme is 'When the Buying Stops, the Killing Can Too' and WildAid has enlisted celebrities from film and sport to help spread the message.

For its China campaign the group is using kung fu star Jackie Chan and Zhang ZiYi -- whose debut role in the movie 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' won her international accolades.

''As China moves into the international spotlight with the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and assumes its place on the global stage as an economic, political and cultural leader, we believe China also has the capacity to lead the way in ensuring a future for the world's threatened and endangered species,'' said Steven Galster, director of WildAid Thailand.

''China will be the cornerstone of our global campaign to reduce consumer demand for endangered wildlife and end the illegal wildlife trade for good,'' he said.