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http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSPEK1500620080707
Let them eat camel, China wildlife activist says
HOHHOT, China, (Reuters Life!) – Wildlife activist Namujileicemu loves camels. In fact, he loves them so much, he wants you to eat them. It’s not quite what you would expect to hear from a conservationist, but ethnic Mongolian Namujileicemu, from China’s northern region of Inner Mongolia, thinks promoting camel meat makes perfect environmental sense. He says breeding animals for meat will help prevent desertification of the region and provide an alternative income for the herders China partly blames it on. It’s healthy, too, he adds. “We need to provide an income for Mongolian herders. Only that way can we protect the grasslands,” he told Reuters in regional capital Hohhot over a lunch of stuffed camel meat pancakes on Monday.
“It’s a natural meat. It has no chemicals in it. It can fight cancer too,” added Namujileicemu, who works for the Alashan Camel and White Cashmere Goat Association and like many Mongolians goes by one name.
China is fighting severe desertification in Inner Mongolia, which it blames on overgrazing. Some rights groups say the government has forced Mongolian herders from the land, without providing them with suitable alternative means of living.
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(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, editing by Miral Fahmy)
