Black swan meat is delicious and has medicinal value, according to the North Korean government. The country is promoting breeding black swans for consumption. According to the government, black swan meat will improve residents’ lives.
Last week, North Korea’s state-run television reported the completion of an industrial-scale black swan farm in Jongphyong county in southern Hamgyong province.
Black swans are a species of swan which are native to Australia. Swans are not commonly eaten in the world, unlike other birds like chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks.
“I think it is meaningful in terms of expanding the variety of food as there are certain groups in the [North Korean] society who are able to spend [money] for meat. I think they are targets [for promoting the swan meat],” Kim Hyung-deok, the president of a think-tank in South Korea on Peace and Prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, told Reuters.
But Hyung-deok said that swan meat couldn’t resolve the country’s chronic food shortage situation. North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has publicly acknowledged his country is in a tense food situation.
“North Korea is a country seeking self-sufficiency, but they can’t be self-sufficient. They need to trade with other countries at some level, but as long as they are limited, the situation will only get worse,” he added.
Research into breeding the black swans for food began in early 2019, and authorities have told schools, factories and businesses to grow food and raise fish and other animals to increase self-sufficiency, NK News reported.
The Animal Reader is an animal news organisation and posts daily articles about animals. If you can, please consider supporting our work.
