Threats Keep Lion Tacos Off Arizona Restaurant Menu

A 14-year-old lion named Christopher looks out from the shade of its enclosure at Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, Tuesday, June 26, 2007. Temperatures in the Boston area were expected to reach into the 90s on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

A menu change that was meant to draw publicity for an Arizona restaurant has drawn outrage and multiple threats.

Bryan Mazon, the owner of Boca Tacos and Tequila, announced last week that they would be accepting prepaid orders for tacos made of lion to adventuresome dinners.

Mazon says his restaurant started offering exotic tacos on its menu every Wednesday about six months ago and has tried "just about anything we can get our hands on," including python, alligator, elk, kangaroo, rattlesnake, oysters, turtle, duck, frog legs and lion.

Boca planned to start serving the lion tacos Feb. 16 at a cost of $8.75 apiece. But the announced lion tacos sparked a reaction that had very little to do with hunger.

He has decided to take it off the menu after the establishment received “many threats” against the restaurant, family members, customers, and vendors.

Much of the exotic meats garnered by this restaurant come from a local distributor of game meat. According to the Food and Drug Administration, lion and other game meat can be sold as long as the species isn't endangered.

Based on reporting by the Associated Press.