Endangered Foods People Consume Illegally

By Sowmiya Prasad

If you are an ardent traveler, then you may also want some adventure! Travelling most of the times involve doing things which are considered wrong/illegal at home. The most alluring part in a travel is food and that is something everyone is fond of. You are keen about tasting a variety of stuff and you don't bother to mind if it's legal or illegal to consume the food. There are also several restaurants who sell restricted foods and those foods that are considered illegal for their priced visitors.

Endangered foods are illegal to be consumed. However, this doesn't matter to many when they are keen about satisfying their taste buds. A culinary contraband is something you can always expect from a ferocious traveler. What is the one way to satisfy this? It goes on to slyly say, smuggling. There are many who take a risk on this and sometimes even have a fun time with the customs.

Endangered Foods People Consume

People also consume endangered foods for its medicinal value. There are a lot of countries which have legitimate food laws which people tend to break. It is however, good to follow the food laws that exists in a country to save those endangered species. Here are a few endangered foods people consume illegally.

Ortolans
Ortolans are tiny songbirds which come in the list of endangered species. It is considered one of the endangered foods and illegal wherever consumed. Penalty may be heavy if someone is found hunting the bird in France. However, there was a case of a dozen Ortolans smuggled to New York and consumed as a whole.

Lion burgers
come summer and you can find some chef around the corner of the world talking about a lion burger. Lion meat has become one of the prominent items in the menu card in the recent times. It is one of the weird foods people eat.

Turtle eggs and meat
The Asian food menus frequently feature turtle eggs and meat, eventhough many species of turtle and tortoise comes under the red list of IUCN. It is one of the endangered foods people consume illegally.

Bluefin Tuna
The species has reached vulnerability , but it still features in the Sushis menus. This is also one of the weird foods people eat. There are several steps being taken to conserve the species.

Pangolins
Next on the list are pangolins, which are consumed for their medicinal properties. They can improve lactation as well as cure cancer. Is there any reason in place to consume the endangered foods illegally?

Snakes
There are a number of snakes labeled endangered being consumed in China. A chef in the Chinese restaurant, goes to the backyard gets a couple of snakes, cooks them in a matter of minutes and serves before the guests. These are some of the weird foods people eat in China. Illegal trade of endangered species is done across the borders to satisfy the high-growing Chinese appetite.

Iguana
This is one of the endangered foods people consume. A couple was arrested recently for consuming it illegally. This also made them land up in the Bahamian jail.

Spiders
Spiders are some of the endangered foods people consume and also some of the weird foods people eat. It should relatively be the first entrant in the list. Spiders are still a delicacy in various parts of the world.

Travelling is a fun thing and food is tasty too. However, it is imperative not to harm the nature and its balance for the better of future generations to come. Consuming endangered foods and hunting animals/birds for the selfishness of mankind will pave way to bigger problems which man himself has to face.

Story first published: Wednesday, December 4, 2013, 14:39 [IST]
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