Civet cats, which have been banned from restaurants for the past five months because of the SARS outbreak, went back on the dining table Tuesday in Guangzhou.

A number of restaurants received government permits to serve wildlife products, including civet cats, Tuesday.

Only 54 game animals listed on the permit can be served as food in restaurants.

At a restaurant in Baiyun District, the owner said she was glad to have the permit, but the restaurant would conduct a survey before reintroducing wildlife to see if it was as popular as before the SARS period.

Guangzhou had granted permits to more than 130 restaurants for wildlife food before the SARS period, but all were later revoked. From September, the city began receiving applications for permits for game food, said Lian Junhao, vice director of the Guangzhou wildlife protection center.

He said more than 40 restaurants had applied and the city began to grant permits Tuesday.

As the weather turned cold in Guangdong, some restaurants began serving snake dishes which are traditionally thought to be healthy in cold weather.

But serving snake was still illegal in Guangzhou, insiders said.

(Shenzhen Daily October 16, 2003)