MasterChef Ecuador in the eye of the storm after using wild animals as ingredients for the recipes of the participants.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himMasterChef Ecuador in the eye of the storm after using wild animals as ingredients for the recipes of the participants.
The MasterChef Ecuador program has caused a sensation not only in its own country, but also beyond the borders, for having promoted, during episode number 34 of the third season, the consumption of deer, shark (Mustelus whitneyi), caiman (Caiman crocodilus ) and capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), all four animals protected by Ecuadorian law.
©Teleamazonas/Twitter
Deer, capybara, shark and caiman, have you ever eaten one of these proteins? ", Read in a tweet - later removed - of the famous cooking program published before starting the episode on Monday 3 January, in which he challenged the 11 participants to cook the meat of these four protected wild species in a "creative" way.
Several environmental organizations, animal rights activists and scientists have railed against the use of the meat of these species in the television program. The National Animalist Movement of Ecuador - MAN, through a statement, reiterated that the consumption of bushmeat is prohibited in the country, and that only indigenous peoples can do it for reasons of subsistence, without commercial or profit purposes. Exceptions that clearly do not apply to Masterchef.
This promotion of the use of wild animal parts could constitute a crime, not only in Ecuador, but also in Colombia. The criminal codes of both countries sanction this. #Traffic Master # Black Apron pic.twitter.com/9yACutyoai
- MANIMALISTAS ECUADOR (@MANimalistas) January 4, 2022
We ask the producers of the program and the channel that broadcasts the program for an explanation on the origin of the meat of these animals, at the same time we inform the public that these types of dishes in this type of "show" try to normalize the consumption of protected animals, the possession of which masks the trafficking of wild animals and the destruction of ecosystems, ”states the MAN.
The Ministry of the Environment, Water and Ecological Transition of Ecuador was also among the first to show its disapproval, recalling that transporting, hunting, marketing and consuming these species is a crime and threatens the conservation of species and ecosystems of the country, as well as represents a potential risk to human health.
The MAATE, protecting the integrity of wildlife, categorically rejects the promotion and dissemination of graphic or audiovisual content that encourages the purchase and consumption of wild species or their constituent elements, as happened in a national television program which, although he was shot outside the country, he denounces a situation that could lead to the illegal consumption of bushmeat ”, reads a press release.
From Colombia to Ecuador
Although it is a program for Ecuador, the recordings are made in Colombia, which raised doubts whether this situation was allowed in the neighboring country. The Colombian platform for animals Alto! indicated that there are capybara and caiman farms in the country, however the production of the program must prove the origin of that meat. Instead, for the deer and the shark they think "their use is illegal".
The response of Colombian institutions was not long in coming. In fact, the country's Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development has confirmed the opening of an investigation into the most famous cooking program in the world.
With @FiscaliaCol we are verifying the veracity of information circulating on social networks about the use of wildlife by-products in television programs.
The trafficking and commercialization of wildlife is a crime in Colombia. #LawOfEnvironmentalCrimes
– Carlos Eduardo Correa (@CarlosECorreaE) January 4, 2022
With the Colombian Prosecutor's Office we are carrying out the investigation into the complaints circulating on social media regarding the use of wildlife by-products in television programs. The trafficking and marketing of wild animals is a crime in Colombia ”, reads a tweet from Colombian Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development Carlos Eduardo Correa.
In Ecuador, however, the deputy Viviana Veloz Ramírez asked the State Prosecutor's Office to start investigations into the "alleged crime against nature" that would have occurred during an episode of MasterChef Ecuador.
Faced with the public violation and violation of regulations that guarantee the rights of nature such as the Environmental and Criminal Code, we have proceeded to present the criminal news to @FiscaliaEcuador, denouncing what happened in the @MasterChefEC program https://t.co /1fF63CegP3 pic.twitter.com/bZknGQ4PLX
- Viviana Veloz (@VivianaVeloz18) January 5, 2022
Faced with the public infringement and the violation of rules that guarantee the rights of nature such as the Environmental and Criminal Code, we proceeded to present the notitia criminis before the Prosecutor's Office denouncing the incident in the MasterChef Ecuador program ", indicated the deputy, member also of the Assembly's Commission for Biodiversity.
The silence of Masterchef Ecuador and Teleamazonas
©MANIMALISTS ECUADOR/Twitter
After the controversy, Ecuadorian TV channel Teleamazonas removed the controversial episode 34 of the program from its YouTube channel. However, on January 6 he republished it by deleting all the scenes in which the promotion of the cuisine of protected wild animals appears and on social networks he deleted all the posts in relation to the consumption of these meats. The questions and protests are many, but the channel and the program have decided for now to remove any trace and respond with silence.
Without considering biosecurity and the fact that some of the species listed such as the shark are endangered, what happened during the program would violate Articles 35, 70, 317 and 318 of Ecuador's Environmental Code. Promoting practices that threaten biodiversity to a national audience without even apologizing, as well as countering and ruining the efforts of those who fight against wildlife trafficking in seconds, just shows how there is still so much indifference around the world regarding environmental issues.
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Font: MAATE / Teleamazonas / MAN / El Universo
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