Exotic Animals Served in Vietnam's Restaurants

No matter how hard I try, I cannot understand the reason why some people seem to take delight in dining on exotic animals. These animals may be in a group of endangered species who are in dire need of conservation—not being served up in a restaurant on a fancy platter.

Almost a year ago, I wrote about a restaurant located on the premises of the Beijing Zoo in China, which featured an assortment of exotic animals designed to whet the appetites of their patrons. Offerings on their menu included kangaroo tails, ostrich egg, scorpions, hippopotamus foot, deer penis, and peacocks. 

Much to my  dismay, a recent article on the Wildlife Conservation Society's website (WCS) reports that Vietnam—which lost its last known rhino, and now is in danger of losing its gibbons monkeys, pangolins, (a mammalian scaly anteater), and the Guar (a rare species of wild cattle)—is seeing much of the same.

Vietnamese enforcement teams raided one souvenir shop and 27 restaurants in the city of Da Lat, the capital of the southern province of Lam Dong, and confiscated animals that are considered illegal to hunt or sell including sambar deer, mouse deer, wild pig, porcupine, snakes, civets, pangolin, bamboo rats, Eld's deer, serow, (a goat-like animal), douc langur,(a variety of monkey) and a stuffed gibbon. 

A survey conducted by the WCS revealed that 57 out of 68 De Lat restaurants were serving wildlife and sparked the recent raids.

Dr. Scott Robertson, of WCS-Vietnam said, "We applaud the efforts of the Lam Dong Forest Protection Department (LDFPD) to stop the illegal sale of wildlife, but the impact of these seizures to stop wildlife criminals in Da Lat is limited by the lack of effective punishment. We urge the authorities to revoke business licenses for any repeat offenders. This will ensure that the risk of serving wildlife outweighs the potential profit."

While Vietnam has, in recent years, made many large wildlife seizures, only a few who have committed these crimes have been punished severely.  Almost none have received a seven-year prison sentence,  the maximum punishment possible.

But what is most heartbreaking and frustrating to this writer is that another zoo, the Tu Loan Restaurant and Zoo, was the biggest offender in an August 2010 raid and has re-opened to once again serving patrons illegal wildlife.