Chef Pulls Lion From Exotic Game Dinner Due to Petition

A Wichita, Kansas chef has pulled lion meat from a dinner event after animal rights activists pressured him to remove it from the menu. The Wichita Eagle reports chef Jason Febres had planned to serve the lion alongside "alpaca, antelope, crocodile, hare, kangaroo and water buffalo" during a $160 exotic meats dinner at his restaurant Taste & See. However, after the group Born Free started a petition to prevent him from doing so, Febres released a statement on Facebook: "It can be a little shocking and disturbing for some people and in my heart I did felt touched and didn't mean to offend anybody so I decided to make it right and substitute the Lion course." (He does not mention what he'll be substituting it with, though.)

In the same message, Febres, who is from Venezeula, asked people to consider that meats that are "exotic" to them are quite common in other cultures, and added that the lion he had planned to serve was farm-raised. Still, there will be no lion meat served at this week's dinner. Below, chef Febres' Facebook statement.

I'm going to take a minute to explain and share the reason we decided to keep the lion off the menu....but not in anyway to cancel the event itself. First of all and I hope I am very clear with this, Taste and See does not serve or support ("according to my standards") any crazy or endangered exotic foods in our menu although we do have a fantastic food selection ;) ha!!!.

So.....with that said, we did took a second look at the fact of serving Lion meat and realized that yes, it can be a little shocking and disturbing for some people and in my heart I did felt touched and didn't mean to offend anybody so I decided to make it right and substitute the Lion course. In the other hand, for all of those who took a chance to bring out all the negativity and instigate violence through misleading emails and vulgar comments (rare character trait in real animal lovers) remember what for "you" might be exotic or different, for others and some cultures is their daily bread. Take a look for example at the fact that some people loves eating cattle....last time I checked it is sacred for some cultures and countries. Bottom line we are not GOD to be judging without solid facts!

True story: I was raised in a little town in south america around tons of wild fauna and farm animals, I remember thinking how funny and cute chicken were with their straight posture and loud noises......have you ever seen the way these animals are harvest. The hormones injected into their small bodies make them grow so dramatically that their bone structure can not keep up with it resulting in collapse.....so there is a little visual for next time you eat that delicious fried chicken at your favorite food joint.....do you even know what kind of meat are you eating when you order a burger at some of the big chain fast food american restaurants, huh? it might have some traces of lion or deer or maybe not even beef....just saying, think about it.

I don't feel like I need to prove myself or convince anyone about my statements of being an animal lover but this should give some of those haters something to chew on....I have being a supporter from heart and financial sponsor for wild animal specifically for http://www.care2.com/life since long time ago. So when I say I love animals I mean it!

To all my friends, fans, family and loving followers, thanks for always believing and supporting me in my restaurants and through this beautiful journey called life! Lots of LOVE for all and I will keep cooking for you until someone cooks me ;)

· Lion Is No Longer a Main Course at Dinner [Wichita Eagle]
· Chef Jason Febres [Facebook]
· All Lions Coverage on Eater [-E-]