Photo: smh.com.au
An Australian traveller says this animal, purported to be a koala, was a menu item at a Chinese restaurant.
The traveller says he was horrified to find a live koala for sale at a restaurant in southern China where the menu was offering the iconic marsupial for dinner in either "braised or stewed" varieties.
A sign on the cage holding the animal advertised "koalas" for purchase at a rate of 139 yuan ($21.89) for 500 grams.
It was one of a number of live exotic animals, including birds and fish, on display at the restaurant in Guangdong Province.
The traveller, who visited the area last week, got down on his hands and knees and snapped a photograph of the caged animal, which was lying next to a carrot.
The man's colleague told Australian radio he was stunned to be given the option of eating the cuddly creature.
"The restaurant had a large selection of birds, fish and other sorts of exotic animals on display that the diner could choose from for their gastronomic delight," the colleague said.
A later caller suggested that animal was an Asian "tree bear" of some variety, but the traveller who took the photograph said he was convinced it was a koala.
It prompted a call from Melbourne businessman Geoff Balsillie, who was similarly disturbed recently to find live caged animals for sale in a restaurant in a nearby area.
"I was taken to a restaurant for lunch by my host... and after the lunch I went to check the plumbing and found all of these cages with all these animals, so I took a few photos," he said.
"There was an egret, a marmot, some water fowl and a few others. I'm not sure whether they were on the menu. There were signs on the cages with numbers on them, telling you how much they were. I don't know whether that was for a gram or for the whole beast, but they were obviously for sale."
Balsillie complained to his Chinese host, who tipped off police and the restaurant was soon raided, he said.
"They released the animals and she [his host] said she didn't win any friends," Balsillie said.