Have you ever visited a wildlife market?

Enforcement at the immense Chatuchak has only picked up in recent years. Several years back, a visit to the animals section was like walking through a menagerie. Reptiles of all kinds, tarantulas and scorpions, birds like parrots and hornbills and small mammals (mostly squirrels). Many endangered species displayed openly.

The wildlife markets of China are far worse. The exotics aren't even meant as pets, they're food! Pangolins, hog badgers, giant flying squirrels, civets, wild cats, primates, all for human consumption.

It's their culture to eat exotic and endangered animals, so stop sitting in your warm lounge and bashing their culture! :rolleyes:
 
It's their culture to eat exotic and endangered animals, so stop sitting in your warm lounge and bashing their culture! :rolleyes:

MY culture. I'm Chinese, my grandparents came to Singapore from China. I think I have the right to criticize my own culture.
 
do you even have a warm lounge Zooish? I would think you'd want to keep it cool instead :D

Just as an aside, is there a Chinese word for "pet" :D
 
Has anybody here ever been to a wildlife market in an African country? I know people have conducted bushmeat studies in markets in some of the Central African countries.

It will be interesting to see how wildlife markets change over time. From what folks here are saying it sounds like in some places like Egypt and Indonesia that law enforcement may be having some positive effects?
 
do you even have a warm lounge Zooish? I would think you'd want to keep it cool instead :D

Just as an aside, is there a Chinese word for "pet" :D

My lounge gets warm (bleeping hot really) if I don't keep the fan or air-conditioner switched on!

And yes, there IS a Chinese word for pet. Pet or not, as long as its edible its fair game for the Chinese. There's a saying that we eat anything that walks, flies or swims! Not a part of my heritage that I'm exactly proud of :D
 
I revisited late last year the mercado de sonora, a very large market that sells traditional native medicines and also animals. In the traditional market i saw many animal parts ( i am an anthropologist who studies human - animal relations). There were coyote, opussom and skunk skins, small carnivore skulls, dried hummingbirds and armadillo shells. In the animal section there were many domestic animals, including goats and peacocks. the only wild animals i saw were a morletti crocodile (small) a boa constrictor and a chamaleon. It is said that wild animals can be bought "de pedido", by request, and that the animals can be bought for a price and delivered. This is illegal. I authorized one of my students, to call Profepa (procudaria federal del proteccion al ambiente) and mexican police seized animals the very next week. Along with the reptiles there were also parrots and songbirds recovered. Primates and felines are no longer offered because the traffic in these species is very heavily penalized. Animal parts were also taken though we did not mention them in our petion. People s beliefs are very hard to change but i was very encouraged by the good response of the mexican enviromental authorites.
 
Last edited:
carlos77 said:
...dried hummingbirds....
I have read that in Latin America there is a belief that wearing a hummingbird skin around your neck, or next to your own skin, makes a man irresistible to women.
 
I think it only works in Latin America, in which case I would make sure I wore one should I ever be in Peru and chance to meet Lucecita Ceballos
 
(Did you read the other posts in the thread, by the way? I was mocking khakibob. :D)

I see this forum has its own "Zoo Klux Clan" LOL'

Looking forward to finding out whos who in the "zoo".

So what is Chinese for pet? "Spoilt child" is close I think.

Solution focus & suggest a way to increase conservation ethic in developing countries.Cant wait to hear how we can achieve some outcomes.

Cheers Sharkey
 
I see this forum has its own "Zoo Klux Clan" LOL'

Looking forward to finding out whos who in the "zoo".

So what is Chinese for pet? "Spoilt child" is close I think.

Solution focus & suggest a way to increase conservation ethic in developing countries.Cant wait to hear how we can achieve some outcomes.

Cheers Sharkey

Nah we just poke fun at each other. They rip into me all the time for wanting a job at the zoo, and I poke fun at them for pretty much everything else. :D
 
Back
Top