[net.origins] The Tusked Babirusa

pvp@ihuxl.UUCP (Philip Polli) (11/19/84)

A while back, somebody posted a strange article here about how accurate
the bible was, pointing out that all kosher animals were specifically
mentioned in it, and that no new ones had ever been found. I was never
quite sure what the point of that article was, but here is an excerpt from
an article in the Chicago Tribune about the tusked babirusa:

"A kosher pig? Because the tusked babirusa chews its cud and has a
 cloven foot, it would be considered edible by Moslems and Jews, said
 Fuller Bazar, an animal husbandry professor at the University of Florida
 who wants to visit a zoo on the island of Java where 10 babirusa are in
 captivity. Although he has never heard of the babirusa, Rabbi Isaiah 
 Zeldin of the Stephen Wise Temple in Bel Air, Calif., said that, based
 on its description, the creature would be kosher"

Anybody know anything more about the tusked babirusa?
How does an animal get to be "officially" kosher?

	Phil Polli
	{ihnp4!}ihuxl!pvp
		

dubois@uwmacc.UUCP (Paul DuBois) (11/30/84)

> Anybody know anything more about the tusked babirusa?
> How does an animal get to be "officially" kosher?

There is a article in the 24 November 1984 issue of Science News.
It may be more informative than what you saw in the Chicago Tribune.
-- 
Paul DuBois		{allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!dubois