Visitors invade drained lake at Chinese zoo to harvest fresh mussels in animals’ enclosure
Intruders ignore warnings that shellfish might not be safe to eat
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 13 March, 2016, 6:29pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 13 March, 2016, 7:49pm
Stephen Chen
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Hundreds of visitors to Zhenghou zoo jumped into the freshly drained pond when large, fresh mussels were spotted. Photo: Dahe.com
The animals at the zoo in Zhengzhou, capital of northern China’s Henan province, have not seen predators for decades, but their peaceful life ended on Sunday with the arrival of hundreds of tourists looking for food, according to local news website.
As workers drained water out of the zoo’s man-made lake in the zoo for maintenance and an upgrade, some sharp-eye tourists spotted mussels at the exposed muddy bottom of the lake, Dahe.cn reported.
READ MORE: Peacocks in zoo die from shock after Chinese tourists’ ‘violent behaviour’, picking them up and plucking out their feathers
They rolled up trousers and sleeves and jumped into the m&d, and were soon joined by several hundred others including parents and their children.
Mussels are a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. They can be cooked in dozens of ways, from fried dishes to soup.
The visitors-turned-mussel diggers said the mussels were much bigger than those sold at the market: Photo: Dahe.comThe mussels in the zoo, about the size of a palm, were larger than those sold in food markets because they had been growing in the lake undisturbed for years.
A member of staff at the zoo said they tried to stop the tourists with warnings that the mussels might not be safe to eat, but their friendly advice was ignored.
“These mussels are alive. We dig them up not to eat, but to let our children experience the pleasure of digging mussels,” said a woman standing in m&d with bare feet.
“I will take these mussels home and put them in water so my children can observe them,” she added. The family left with a sack full.
Zoo staff said they warned the intruders ignored their warnings that the mussels might not be safe to eat. Photo: Dahe.com
