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- Visitors to a state-run bird sanctuary aimed at preserving wildlife in the Mekong Delta can enjoy nature up close as well as sample
in storks and other rare birds which could be directly sourced in-house.

Dong Thap province’s 36-hectare Gao Giong Bird Yard, part of
the Gao Giong Eco-Tourism Park in Cao Lanh District, is home to 15 bird
species, including storks, egrets, sparrows, wild ducks and herons, and some
rare species listed as endangered.

As a refreshing stop for tourists, a restaurant there is
offering drinks and cooking at affordable prices.

However, Thanh Nien found out that storks and other birds
are also on the menu.

After enjoying nature safari-style on an 18-meter-high birdwatching
zone, Thanh Nien reporters were invited to have various specialties made
specifically from birds.

They were told by T., a waitress that the storks were alive
before being cooked.

“It is terrible because we have just watched the birds and
now we are invited to eat them,” a visitor told Thanh Nien.

“How on earth could it happen in a state-run bird
sanctuary?”

Vo Van Lo, deputy director of the Gao Giong Eco-Tourism
Services Limited Company that supervises the eco-zone, said the birds served there
were bought from local residents, and not caught inside the sanctuary.

But he admitted he did not know exactly where the birds came
from.

Dong Thap is famous for a huge bird population.

Source: Thanh
Nien/Tuoi Tre