Gerard Depardieu says he shot and ate lions in Africa

Gerard Depardieu is a great actor and he likes his wine. He has admitted that he can drink 13 bottles of wine a day and regularly does. It sounds unbelievable and it might be but judging by his size it is probably happening. He clearly likes his food as well.

In an article in the Telegraph today, Saturday, 13 December 2014 he tells of a story during a discussion with a journalist about how the taste of rat compares with the taste of hedgehog. He mentioned a particular dish of food that is rather rare, “blanquette de lion”. This is cooked lion meat in a white sauce.

So how did he come to be eating lion steak? He says that he was in the bush in Burkina Faso, Africa when the vehicle he was in broke down on a track. Two lions waited in front of the vehicle and they wouldn’t move. As the hours passed they became trapped in their vehicle. The driver was afraid and they felt they had no choice but to shoot both lions.

He doesn’t describe what happened next but he does admit to eating them. Well, not all of them but some of them. I’m not sure whether he admits it as a joke; you know, tongue in cheek. However, the animal lovers of Great Britain annoy him. He says that the English are hypocrites when it comes to eating meat.

In the Mirror newspaper he says that he shot the loans himself:

Imagine you’re driving and your engine breaks down. You got out, and in your way are these animals. So you shoot, just to scare them. They don’t move. I wasn’t there for hunting. I was in Africa for Africa,”

In an interview with the Independent Magazine he was asked if he ate lion to which he replied, simply, “Yes”.

I wonder whether he is simply dramatizing the event to add to his public image, which is one of a person who is larger than life and full of excesses but nonetheless a wonderful actor.