Do you know how when someone says, "I don't mean to sound ___ (elitist/sexist/racist) but..." and then it is followed up with a statement that is just that?
Well here I go.
Asia accounts for the majority of demand for threatened, endangered and exotic species. I was about to say that I don't want to single out a specific culture but actually I do, especially when this culture defends its illegal and unethical practices as "cultural." And how is it that the panda is being rigorously protected while sharks, rhinoceros, snow leopards, tigers, etc. are being fished and poached into near extinction? Why is the government supportive of one conservation effort while being despicably lax in enforcing the other? It seems like the only way for authorities to catch protected species being smuggled into China is if they were wrapped in "free Tibet" posters. Is it because the panda, with its extremely low sex drive, is not under threat of being consumed as an aphrodisiac?
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