Endangered African Orchids because they are FOOD!!

[Tindomul]

I found an interesting, however relatively old news article on the net which talks about how terrestrial orchids in Africa are endangered. They are close to extinction becuase of illegal trade, but this time the trade is for human consumption! Apparently these orchids have tubers, like potatoes, and are very much in demand by the public. I guess they must be tasty.
Since all orchids are protected under CITES, the trade of these orchids is illegal but continues between Tanzania and Zambia. The tubers are boiled and eaten as a delicasy called "chikanda" or "kinaka". This delicasy may be endangering 85 species or orchids with trade estimated to be 2.2 million tubers per year.
I got all this info from the following website, please visit to learn some more. Thanks, hope you all enjoyed this one.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?art...82809EC588ED9F

Here is another similar article at the WCS website.
http://www.wcs.org/353624/194458