"Anthony Wall - The Eden Mission (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wall Anthony)

He strode to the table behind him, on which stood a glass jar. Turning, he
said: "I think you and I agree conservation is worthwhile."

There was a loud murmur of assent.

Bellingham picked up the jar, full of cloudy liquid. Something was floating in
it. "Know what this is?" He unscrewed the lid and, taking a pair of tweezers
from his shirt pocket, fished out the mysterious object. "Open your hand," he
said to Susan. She squealed as he dropped what he was holding into her palm.
Slimy and spotted ... frog's legs!

"Won't hurt you," he reassured her. "Just the legs of some unlucky Indian
bullfrog which didn't hop off in time to save itself."

He retrieved the exhibit, passed it round, then put it back in the jar. "The
reason I have shown you this is to illustrate a story. A horror story."

In Asia, each year, 250 million frogs are killed. For their legs. To make
delicate snacks, eaten by spoilt customers in Europe and America.

Hunted at night with lamps, the frogs are collected from ponds and rice fields
and taken away to be "processed". This involves immersing the frogs in salt
water to numb them. Next they are sliced in two, the top halves thrown aside.
The maimed frogs crawl off to die, many minutes later.

"Not very pleasant, is it? But that's not all.

"Frogs feed on insects, which spread fatal diseases and ruin crops. By killing
the frogs, Asian villagers have brought on an insect population explosion. The
result: catastrophe. What to do? Farmers bought pesticides to combat the
menace. The pesticides cost more than the income from frogs' legs ..."

Yves raised his hand.

"Just a minute," said Ben. "There's another episode to the story. The main
pesticide is DDT--banned in Europe and America but sold to developing
countries. Asian people were soon suffering from chemical poisoning. And,
ironically, the contaminated crops are exported to Europe and America.
Meanwhile the insects have grown immune to pesticides. So higher and higher
doses are used, further endangering human health and wildlife--including those
poor frogs."

Ben Bellingham folded his arms and concluded: "Greed, ignorance and failure to
respect the balance of nature have caused a disaster. It will take years to
put right. Roll on The Eden Mission!"

When the youngsters left they were curiously quiet. Ben had given them plenty
to think about.