A small-toothed palm civet baby (R) is seen at the Singapore Night Safari on Feb. 22, 2019. The animals under the care of the Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) gave birth to over 700 babies and hatchlings representing 131 species in 2018. (Photo: Xinhua)

 

A Chinese children's encyclopedia of animals has been taken off shelves nationwide for its controversial description of the masked palm civet, a possible intermediate host for the novel coronavirus, as an edible delicacy. 

Wuhan University Press, the publisher of the eight-book encyclopedia for little children, responded on Tuesday by saying it had noticed the inappropriate content in of the books and asked bookstores nationwide to take the book off their shelves. Other related matters are under investigation by the publisher. 

Photos of the chapter describing masked palm civet meat as edible and the animal as a long-held delicacy in China have gone viral on the internet since Monday. 

Some netzens pointed out that the introduction in the children's book is inappropriate. 

"I had hoped that the habit of eating wild animals would gradually disappear over generations, but just found that a popular children's science book is filled with such content," a netizen commented. 

"It is unbelievable that this kind of so-called animal encyclopedia exists. Is it educating people to eat masked palm civet from childhood?" another netizen asked.

Other netizens pointed out that many similar science books talk about animals as being edible or usable as Chinese medicines, as if we still live in a primitive society where human beings ate raw meat and drank animal blood. 

Global Times