The fate of Sally...

When I was in Beijing, we toured the Minzu hotel. We were in the 3rd floor foyer, waiting to see a ballroom space. I was standing near a large table/bowl/sculpture thing, it came up to my chest so I had to walk over to see into it. That is when I met Sally.

My eyes almost fell out of my head in horror as I watched this prehistoric creature spin circles in 4 inches of water, all for, what? Hotel lobby entertainment? Was this the Chinese's idea of a freak show? Someone call PETA. I called Dave over... he cracked up and was like 'What the hell is that thing!?!??!' I decided we should tip over the glass covered bowl and save Sally. Kinda like Hayden Paniterre and the whales! I was beside myself. What was this animal? Why was it being treated so cruelly? We ignored the presentation going on, and whispered like 5th graders about what the 3 foot long lizard was doing in a hotel lobby bowl. Then Dave looked beyond me, his face lit up (it tends to do that in moments when I might cry or scream). He pointed at the menu for the Minzu Restaurant advertised three feet away... with photos.

I later told Amir, still having no idea what the animal was I'd seen, and still confused about it's fate. The menu couldn't have been serious. Could it? Amir asked me to describe Sally. Well... she was like a big-dinosaur-newt-lizard-salamander-thing, yes!? "Ah, yes," says my i-watch-too-much-animal-planet boyfriend, "the Giant Chinese Salamander. Very endangered."

I tried to google Sally immediately! The vegetarian in me coming out in full panic mode. As I've mentioned, you can't easily access information in China - they cut you off. Every website with a Giant Chinese Salamander was blocked. Luckily Agent Amir was able to come across some very devastating information:

"The Chinese giant salamander is the largest amphibian species in the world, growing up to 1.8 metres, and can live for over 50 years. This species is classified as Critically Endangered in the IUCN RED LIST because of a massive population decline of more than 80% since the 1960s. This decline is caused by a combination of over-exploitation for human consumption and the traditional medicine market, and habitat destruction and degradation from dam construction, stream pollution and siltation after deforestation of the surrounding area. Remaining wild populations are also severely fragmented."

We may have lost Sally, as it turns out the Minzu was hosting a dinner for several important government officials that evening. Of course, feed the critically endangered amphibian/delicacy to the government. Typical.

And just so you can see how serious I am:





For more information on helping Sally's all over China click here