Eating Elephants

I was reading on Huffpo about animals that are going extinct through people eating them. I was surprised to see that monkeys, apes, and elephants were on the list.

Tracking down an article on elephant consumption I found this one from the Bangkok Post.

It describes people eating an elephant that dies rather than killing it specifically for its meat. Huffpo goes further and writes about people killing elephants for meat.

Bangkok Post 12/13/09: Elephant eaters see no shame in jumbo meal

''On a day that elephant meat is available in the village, it is eagerly snapped up and sells out in no time,'' said Uncle Pao, 73, from Wiang Thong village in Sung Men district where elephant meat costs 100 baht a kilogramme. ''Nobody wants to buy other kinds of meat.''


Despite the cultural cringe of the national symbol finding its way on to the dinner plates of villagers, the people of Wiang Thong have no remorse about consuming elephant meat when they can.


Their ancestors had a close relationship with the animals which were used for logging, and the consumption of a carcass is simply viewed as the elephant providing sustenance for the villagers. The local governor believes it can become a tourist attraction, and the practice of eating elephant meat is already attracting curious onlookers from neighbouring provinces.


"We only eat meat from dead elephants," said Mr Sanan.


The latest survey shows there are no more than 5,000 elephants in the country and it is predicted that if no serious effort is made to help save them, they could become extinct within 14 years, Mr Saksit said.