Enlarge picture i An Arizona restaurant offered lion meat burgers in 2010 in an try to drum up business in the course of the Globe Cup soccer tournament held in South Africa.
An Arizona restaurant offered lion meat burgers in 2010 in an try to drum up company throughout the World Cup soccer tournament held in South Africa.
When we heard a couple of weeks ago that Illinois was thinking about banning lion meat, our initial imagined was, who's eating lion meat? And why Illinois?
Turns out, lion meat has been gaining traction among adventurous foodies who argue that the meat can be an ethical alternative to factory-farmed animals if the meat comes from American-raised circus and zoo animals that have been sent to the slaughterhouse in their old age.
"People's interest in nonfactory-farmed animals has undoubtedly influenced the interest in adventurous eating," says Curtiss Calleo, co-founder of a club for daring eaters called The Gastronauts, which has hosted a lion meat dinner in New York.
But just before even far more curious foodies can get a taste of lion, it might be banned by some who contemplate the culinary flirtation shameful.
Earlier this 12 months, Rep. Luis Arroyo introduced a bill in the Illinois Basic Assembly that would make it illegal to possess, breed, buy or promote lions for their meat.
" I have constantly thought of the lion to be the king of the jungle," Arroyo tells The Salt. "I by no means knew that folks have been consuming lion meat. I don't know who would want to do that."
Bernard Dehaene, a chef in Baltimore who has served lion, as very well as kangaroo and python, says there is practically nothing to be ashamed of. "We're not here to offend anyone," he says. In 2011, he started off an exotic meat club at the restaurant Corner BYOB. "We're right here to showcase and do some thing diverse and educate men and women about other meals."
But animal advocacy groups say consuming lion meat is hardly harmless.
Enlarge image i U.S. Fish and Wildlife Support is currently thinking about adding the African lion to its endangered species listing.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Support is at present thinking of incorporating the African lion to its endangered species list.
In the previous 20 many years, they note, the world's lion population has decreased by about half which is why wildlife protection and conservation organizations have petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to include lions to its endangered species record.
At the moment, the Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature lists African lions as "vulnerable" meaning they are at large risk of endangerment in the wild but there are no trade restrictions on them. Lions encounter a amount of threats, which includes habitat reduction, ailment, trophy hunting and international trade in their meat.
Born Absolutely free USA a single of the organizations that petitioned FWS for the listing says it worries that greater interest in lion meat in the U.S. might motivate additional poaching abroad. If diners knew "the hazards dealing with wild lions, they would absolutely abstain at just about every flip," says Adam Roberts, the group's executive vice president.
The FWS says the listing " may well be warranted" for lions and began a evaluation of the matter last November, but it could take the company an additional 12 months to make a last selection. In the meantime, Born Free of charge USA worked with Arroyo to draft his bill.
Which brings us back to the question : Why Illinois?
Nicely, a few many years ago, Born Absolutely free USA investigated the lion meat trade routes after receiving several reviews that it was on restaurant menus across the country. "It turns out that Illinois was truly the important actor in it all, each in terms of acquisition of lions, slaughter of lions and then, in the long run, the packaging of lion meat," says Roberts.
U.S. retailers that promote lion meat, like ExoticMeatMarket.com, say their meat comes from animals raised on a USDA-inspected lion farm outside Chicago, Gastronomica reported in 2012. And an short article in Popular Science claimed that the meat readily available on the industry in the U.S. comes from older animals from circuses, exotic pet fanatics and zoos.
"None of the lion meat offered in the U.S. comes or came from Africa," Calleo says. "So I am not exactly certain what banning farming lions or selling outdated circus and zoo animals for meat has to do with African poachers and conservation."
But Roberts argues that it truly is unattainable to be sure that none of the lion meat on U.S. dinner plates came from Africa. "You genuinely have, in our expertise, a circumstance wherever the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Foods and Drug Administration are wanting at every other saying, 'Lions are not in our arena,' " Roberts tells The Salt. "And I believe it can be a species for which the flesh trade is falling by the cracks," he says.
And, Roberts says, it really is not just about conservation. " There is also a human wellbeing and safety issue, in that we will not know what form of antibiotic residues could stay in these animals, whether these animals are in any way sanitary for human consumption," he says.
Despite the fact that Born Cost-free USA has heard some stories of lion meat staying sourced outside Illinois, Roberts says he thinks a ban there "will considerably lower the number of lions becoming acquired for slaughter, the volume of lion meat staying traded, and the demand for lion meat about the nation."
In the end, if the U.S. lion meat trade is shut down by the FWS or Arroyo's bill, it most likely won't be the biggest loss for foodies. Simply because, as Calleo puts it, " It really is not the most fascinating meat you'll ever eat. Predators aren't really that tasty."
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