Woman who ate Pangolin detained in China

Beijing , Feb 14 (IANS) A woman who was nicknamed "Pangolin Princess" in China after she posted online images of various cooked wildlife that she had eaten has been held by police, authorities said on Tuesday.

Among the dishes posted by the woman, who was named Lin by authorities, was a soup made up meat from eight different animals, including "pangolin, snake and swan", The Telegraph reported.

Another photo showed a dish which was described by Lin -- who could face ten years in prison under Chinese law -- as "pangolin-blood fried rice", along with images of live caged owls and pangolin.

Pangolin is the world's most hunted animal. Its meat is misleadingly touted to have medicinal properties.

A soup of pangolin and caterpillar fungus -- an expensive and highly sought after ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine -- was "very delicious", Lin was reported to have said.

She was detained by police in her home town of Shenzhen, in China's south.

"The forestry sub-branch of Shenzhen Police will harshly crack down against and investigate thoroughly any criminal and law-breaking behaviour relating to wildlife," the bureau added.

They were highlighted on the Chinese Internet after an investigation was launched last week into a lavish banquet of pangolin meat that was allegedly held by officials in Guizhou province, which is also in China's south.

The meat of the nocturnal creature is seen as a delicacy by some in China, but Beijing banned the trade in pangolins more than ten years ago, amid fears that the insect-eating animal was being hunted to extinction. Swans are also protected in China.

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