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[Josh Greenman <joshg1973 AT yahoo.com>]

http://iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw1089957960168B235

Monkey saved from 'boiled brain' menu 

July 16 2004 at 08:06AM  
 
Taipei, Taiwan - A monkey was recuperating at a wildlife park in Taiwan after 
being
rescued from a restaurant that planned to sell slices of the animal's brain 
while he was
alive in a cage, a local government official said on Friday.

A tourist in the central mountainous area of Nantou bought the monkey, 
Formosan macaque,
after he saw that customers at a restaurant were about to eat its brains, 
said Huang
Kuo-chen, a forestry official in Taoyuan county, where the tourist lives.

The man phoned Huang's department to ask whether the monkey could be legally 
raised at
home, the forestry official said.

"Raising monkeys at home is banned because they are protected animals," Huang 
said.

The man, who didn't give his name, handed over the animal to the authorities 
after
rescuing it in May, Huang said. An inspection of the monkey showed exposed 
bone and small
holes in its skull, he said.

In a front-page story, the Apple Daily showed photos of the monkey with a 
patch of hair
shaved on its head where the restaurant reportedly planned to cut open his 
skull and
slice off pieces of brain.

Many Taiwanese enjoy eating exotic animals because they believe the creatures 
provide
special health benefits.

CTI cable news quoted doctors who warned that animal brains could contain 
dangerous
viruses and were not fit for consumption.

The monkey is now being held at a wildlife park before experts evaluate 
whether it can be
released in the wild, Huang said. - Sapa-AP 


This article was originally published on July 16, 2004