Chinese authorities are investigating whether government officials may have feasted on endangered pangolins, considered the most trafficked mammal on earth, at a banquet after posts about the meal drew outrage on social media.
BEIJING: Chinese authorities are investigating a banquet where government officials may have feasted on endangered pangolins, considered the most trafficked mammal on earth, after posts about the meal drew outrage on social media.
The animal’s brown scales are made of nothing more than keratin – the same substance as fingernails – but are highly prized in Vietnam and China where they are misleadingly touted as bearing medicinal properties.
Police are investigating whether the “scaly anteater” was indeed consumed at a banquet in the southern province of Guangxi, the Xinhua state news agency reported late Tuesday.
A viral post on the Chinese social media site Weibo claimed that Guangxi officials invited investors to eat the animal, which is listed as threatened to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Several photos showed an abundant feast, along with the user’s observation: “It was my first time eating [pangolin]… I’ve already fallen deeply for the wild taste! “
In China, the pangolin is under state protection.
