New taste for Thai elephant meat could pose new threat to the species

[limpyhobbler]

BANGKOK (AP) — A new taste for eating elephant meat — everything from trunks to sex organs — has emerged in Thailand and could pose a new threat to the survival of the species.

Wildlife officials told The Associated Press that they were alerted to the practice after finding two elephants slaughtered last month in a national park in western Thailand.

"The poachers took away the elephants' sex organs and trunks ... for human consumption," Damrong Phidet, director-general of Thailand's wildlife agency, said in a telephone interview. Some meat was to be consumed without cooking, like "elephant sashimi," he said.

Poachers typically just remove tusks, which are most commonly found on Asian male elephants and fetch thousands of dollars on the black market. A market for elephant meat, however, could lead to killing of the wider elephant population, Damrong said.

link: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-taste-thai-elephant-meat-035353902.html

[aquart]

1. Now there's a taste I'd cure with a stomach pump and public whipping.

And that's the mild generous response as opposed to what I'd really like.