The pangolin is brought out of the cage alive when a customer makes the order. He can choose to see how the cook bludgeons the scaly anteater unconscious before ripping its throat and draining the blood.
The customer then has his drinks while the cook boils the animal to remove the scales. After some 30 minutes, the exotic meal is served, the way the customer desires it. All for a princely sum of RM300 to RM350 a kilo, plus the pangolin blood as takeaway.
These gory details were disclosed to Malay Mail yesterday by a Kuala Lumpur businessman, a frequent visitor to China’s southern province of Guangdong, which is famous for “exotic” cuisine.
We contacted him to find out how widespread the sale of endangered species is, in Malaysia and abroad, following the seizure of the carcasses and meat of 13 protected wildlife species in Johor two weeks ago.
More than 7,000 clouded monitor lizards and scores of pangolins were also saved from the cooking pot in the raids in Muar and Segamat, the Wildlife and National Parks Department announced on Tuesday.
A 50-year-old man arrested for having the wildlife pleaded not guilty in a Tangkak magistrate’s court last Friday and was granted bail of RM19,000.
In 2004, the same man was fined RM7,500 for possessing 182 pangolins and 1.3kg of pangolin scales.
The animals still alive would be released into their habitats, while those already skinned would be disposed of.
The Johor case highlights the negative impact the growing power of Chinese consumption is having on global conservation efforts.
The businessman said he doubts if such animals are supplied to restaurants locally as there are ready buyers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, who pay handsome sums.
He said despite the ban on the export of pangolins, it is one of the more popular types of exotic meat offered by many restaurants in China.
Pangolins, he said, are in great demand because the meat is considered a delicacy and the scales, of the same grain as human fingernails, are believed to help reduce swellings, promote blood circulation and help breastfeeding women produce milk.
As a result of the demand, the pangolin populations of China, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia have been wiped out. With poachers moving further south, the population is declining even in its last habitats in Java, Sumatra and Malaysia.
The businessman said the Chinese like to impress their guests by serving meals of rare and endangered animals, which is also a sign of wealth.
“We take a big risk eating wildlife as they may not be properly sanitised or carry a number of diseases that could be harmful to a person’s health,” he said.
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