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Q: More Paws for Concern?
This comes from a Australian News web page
There are pictures however I did not think it was a good idea to post them
Chinese customs officials have released photos of a haul of 213 bear paws, seized from two Russian men who allegedly hid the parts in the tyres of their van in an attempt to smuggle them into China.
The two men were detained by officials in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region last month but the haul was only displayed on Monday, the Global Times reports.
The seized paws, worth an estimated $485,000, are believed to have come from the brown bears.
The men had allegedly attempted to smuggle the body parts in the tyres of their van and in a spare tyre.
The appendages are highly prized in some parts of China, where they are considered a delicacy and used in traditional medicine.
Zhang Xiaohai, director of China's external affairs office for Animals Asia Foundation said demand for bear paws was growing.
"The demand is huge because more people can afford them and the country has the tradition to treat bear paw as a rare ingredient for cuisine or as an expensive present," he said.
"Bear farms in China exacerbate the situation as they also sell paws illegally which stimulates the growing trade," he noted
I think eating bear paws should be only for those people who go unarmed into the forrest and come out with as many paws as they would like to eat.
As with dog eating in China, if the animal is bread with the purpose it is used for, then that is OK, the people who buy these paws are most likely contributing to illegal hunting and decimation of the bear population, and I would not be surprised if the rest of the animal is pretty much wasted
Now... where did I put my blanket made of the skin from ears of baby-pandas
China is importing ivory, I know where I can get bears, they aren't hunting them any more here and they are getting to be a nuisance. How many can I get in my suitcase? Why can't the Chinese find a use for rats? Never seen so many rats in my life, which is 2 at home, I've had more that that run over my shoes in China.
TedDBayer:
I've eaten lamb in China and I don't like lamb, didn't taste like lamb, tasted like bones.
Yeah that's too bad Phil. I mean Ted. No, no I meant Phil! I hope those guys get locked up for a very long time! Maybe they can have you or Ted interrogate them I'm sure they'll confess to everything within minutes after you guys proceed with the interrogation! Do it for the bears PHIL/TED do it for the bearS! (
!
He he, I said: "bears"!
TedDBayer:
You pretend to be American badly and I pretend to be Eskimo.
Scandinavian:
OMG OMG OMG Ted, don't you know eskimoes are make believe like vampires and gremlins ?
Phil, despite the sad and gruesome story, I like the pun. Good one.
Sometimes you eat the bear ... and sometimes the bear eats you
