US restaurant draws ire of animal activists over its World Cup special

Death threats over lion burger

US restaurant draws ire of animal activists over its World Cup special

Il Vinaio restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona, has received one bomb threat and around 250 emails from animal rights activists after announcing its new dish.

The restaurant is offering the lion burgers at $21 (Rs 970), served with spicy homemade chips and roast corn on the cob.

"We have access to some really exotic meats that are USDA-approved," owner Cameron Selogie said. "One of them that raised eyebrows was lion."

The big cat is not illegal to eat in the US and Selogie insists the lions used to make the burgers were raised on a free-range farm.

"We've had quite a few customers asking us off the cuff when are we going to serve some lion," the restaurateur went on.

"In Africa they do eat lions. So I assume if it's alright for Africans to eat lions then it should be alright for us."

But Dr Grey Stafford from the World Wildlife Zoo said serving up a threatened species is sending the wrong message.

"Of all the plentiful things to eat in this country, for someone to request that or to offer that, I was rather stunned," he explained.

Farm-raised lions
The lions are raised on a free-range farm in Illinois.

Selogie said he had explained to protesters that African lions are on the protected list, but not endangered.

He said, "Most of them, when we tell them the facts, that this is farm raised and it doesn't hurt the endangered animals, seem pretty reasonable." The restaurant ordered 10 pounds of African lion meat from the farm and it is mixed with ground beef to make a lion burger.

A spokesman for the US Department of Agriculture said lion meat was uncommon but not illegal.

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