Not Aslan!

Arizona restaurant catching flak over plan to serve lion tacos

That's right, l-i-o-n not l-o-i-n.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, a Tucson eatery will be serving up the kingly dish for one of its weekly exotic taco nights. Past efforts have included python, elk, kangaroo and turtle, the paper reported.

Give credit to owner Bryan Mazon, who was more than frank when asked the reasoning behind his decision to put the majestic animal on a tortilla. “I'm doing the African lion to get my name out,” he said. “I've never tried it myself, but this one really caught my eye.”

Doesn't sound especially appetizing to me, but then I've never had cat, unless maybe some snuck into the Kung Pao sauce at some cheap restaurant.

The lion tacos will be available February 16, wedged between Tequila Tuesday and Dollar Beer Thursday.

However, enough beer and margaritas and almost anything would be appealing.  So how much are lion tacos?

They will cost $8.75 apiece, Mazon told the Daily Star, explaining that a pound of ground lion will run you about $100. The meat comes from a farm in Perris, California, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

Our pals over at CNNMoney covered that one and reached out at the time to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, whose spokesman said that African lion is not a federally protected endangered species and that it qualifies as game meat.

I remember reading that lions in captivity are at a premium; they breed like cats, and circuses, zoos and animal parks have a hard time getting rid of the excess.  Maybe they should just give them to Chinese restaurants.