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Markets in everything, China edition
It's the sort of place where a group of people will battle to save cats being made into meatballs or hats, but you can pay $75 to feed a sheep to a tiger. (This clip could be a little much for sensitive folk.) [TC: please don't watch, I didn't]
Here is the link, the pointer is from Yan Li.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on February 19, 2007 at 04:22 PM in Food and Drink | Permalink
Comments
I watched, it was pretty much like any old nature video. Small animal, large carnivore, surprisingly little blood.
Posted by: Timothy at Feb 19, 2007 5:06:35 PM
This reminded me of the old joke about Moscow's (perhaps Beijing's) "Exhibition on our Communist Future" which depicted the lion and the lamb, living in peace just as they, and the nations, will, when Perfect Communism is achieved.
As the story goes, the curtains parted, and lo and behold, there was a full grown lion laying down with a tiny lamb. It was an amazing sight.
At the end of the day a reporter came up to the director and asked, "How did you do it? How did you get the lion to lay down with the lamb?"
"It was easy," said the director. "Every day we get a new lamb."
Posted by: hwinva at Feb 19, 2007 5:22:00 PM
That was mild compared to anything on the Discovery channel. The sheep's death appears to happen almost instantly, if his limp body in the tiger's mouth means that. I'm assuming his teeth puncture something pretty important immediately.
Posted by: Jason Voorhees at Feb 19, 2007 5:28:26 PM
Question: why post the clip and ask us not to watch it? Isn't it just as easy to tell us that there is such a market, then let us go look for the link?
Posted by: hamilton at Feb 19, 2007 5:44:41 PM
Hunting animals is something that tigers do. Typically, they will capture those that are most weak or vulnerable, while stronger specimens will survive.
This case is a lot different. Here we have a specific sheep selected to be tiger food, apparently without regard to its individual fitness, and released for the amusement of these tourists.
Of course, if you are going to keep tigers, you are going to have to feed them. But, I think a more ideal situation would be for them to somehow hunt their own food in a way such that no particular animal is selected for slaughter with no chance whatsoever and without regard to its individual fitness. Maybe that isn't practical, but would be better.
Posted by: Viscus at Feb 19, 2007 6:29:57 PM
Those Tigers are really, really big.
Posted by: ElamBend at Feb 19, 2007 8:17:53 PM
SOP for big cats is to snap the spinal cord at the neck which is instant death. Quite clean and tidy, as you would expect from a cat.
Posted by: BillWallace at Feb 19, 2007 8:44:52 PM
Pathetic, TC. What would you prefer the tiger do? Or would you rather it didn't exist? This isn't a snuff film; it's a friggin' tiger.
Posted by: josh at Feb 19, 2007 8:56:35 PM
and how is a tiger getting its dinner any different from lamb chops or mutton biryani?
Posted by: The Tsunami at Feb 20, 2007 12:27:21 AM
"how is a tiger getting its dinner any different from lamb chops or mutton biryani?"
Oh, but if TC didn't see lamb being slaughtered, it doesn't count.
So he is a good person.
Like when he advocates Open Borders without having to suffer any consecuences.
You see, he is a good person.
Posted by: mik at Feb 20, 2007 5:07:24 AM
Thank you for the video link, TC. I took your advice and didn't watch it, but I appreciate you giving me the option to. Some animal rights people already have decided this is cruel, and a little detail like what exactly happens during this event is of no concern to them. Other (thoughtful) ones may want to be informed to the fullest possible before they go marching off boycotting and protesting.
Posted by: pjgoober at Feb 20, 2007 8:41:23 AM
Wow, watching that made me really hungry.
And who didn't love the (admittedly obvious choice for) musical accompaniment?
Posted by: anon at Feb 20, 2007 11:29:01 AM
I didn't watch the clip, but I've seen one from the same place taken by a friend who visited a few years ago when we were studying in Beijing. What got me about that clip was the Chinese tourists (of all ages) were laughing while the goat was being eaten. The Chinese also tended to laugh a lot when talking about others committing suicide. The insensitivity to death is one thing I've never been able to understand about their culture.
As far as market in everything goes, you can also buy a fractional share of a cow to feed the tigers, which are kept quite hungry so as to minimize the risk of them not putting on a show when they are fed.
Posted by: kc at Feb 20, 2007 12:57:41 PM
I didn't watch the clip, but I've seen one from the same place taken by a friend who visited a few years ago when we were studying in Beijing. What got me about that clip was the Chinese tourists (of all ages) were laughing while the goat was being eaten. The Chinese also tended to laugh a lot when talking about others committing suicide. The insensitivity to death is one thing I've never been able to understand about their culture.
As far as market in everything goes, you can also buy a fractional share of a cow to feed the tigers, which are kept quite hungry so as to minimize the risk of them not putting on a show when they are fed.
Posted by: kc at Feb 20, 2007 12:57:43 PM
This post somehow made me recall watching a bullfight on TV. It took that humankind several times to stab the right part to put the poor animal to instant death. I still remember how dignified that humankind dressed and behaved himself.
Posted by: meijin at Feb 21, 2007 4:01:49 AM
kc, when and where did you hear or see Chinese laughing about others' suicides? Until you learn how to properly use your brain, Chinese culture is always beyond you.
Posted by: xuwei at Feb 21, 2007 4:12:17 AM
That was not at all overly graphic. And I agree with the posts that the death was quick and relatively painless. TC, you need to read more about what goes on in US slaughterhouses today. That sheep died more quickly with less pain and less fear than a sheep in a US slaughterhouse. SO the next time I see you Bombay Bistro, I assume you are ordering vegetarian?
Posted by: Murphy at Feb 22, 2007 3:40:48 PM
