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February 16, 2010
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Twice a week, John Platt shines a light on endangered species from all over the globe, exploring not just why they are dying out but also what's being done to rescue them from oblivion. Follow on Twitter @johnrplatt.
Twice a week, John Platt shines a light on endangered species from all over the globe, exploring not just why they are dying out but also what's being done to rescue them from oblivion. Follow on Twitter @johnrplatt.
A critically endangered fish whose swim bladder is believed to cure illnesses has been caught and sold for more than $500,000 in China.
The 135-kilogram Chinese bahaba (Bahaba taipingensis), the first fish of its species caught in at least a year, was thought to be more than 50 years old. A fishery in Guangdong Zhanjiang purchased the fish for 3.45 million yuan.
According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Bahaba’s swim bladder "is highly appreciated for its medicinal properties and as a general tonic for health." Its use in traditional Chinese medicine resulted in the species being heavily overfished, to the point where any catch is widely reported in China’s media.
Bahaba are endemic to the East China and South China seas. According to the IUCN, no spawning populations of the fish are known, and "there are likely to be few or no refuges remaining for recovery."
Image: Bahaba taipingensis, via Fishbase.us
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I have long maintained the only true sovereign remedy for cancer, impotence and old age can be found in the dried and powdered brains of a traditional Chinese herbalist.
Link to thisbrains are difficult to powder
Link to thisThat just means you need to collect a lot of them. Not really a bad thing.
Link to thisAt $500k each, might be a good candidate for cloning.
Link to thisSince brains are mostly fat, you could cook out the oil and rub it on your abadaba to cure arthritis, impotence and don’t forget my all time fav….anal seepage.
Link to thisThis is assuming that the Chinese herbalist HAS a brain! Evidently, he does not, judging from his behaviour in driving animals to extinction and exhausting his supply of materials.
Link to this