Booths have followed the national supermarket chains and dropped the sale of ostrich meat products from all its stores.

This is welcome news to Viva! the vegetarian charity who have been campaigning against 'exotic' meats for three years and have targeted individual supermarkets one at a time. Tesco was the first - and the biggest supplier. Only days after issuing a press release saying that ostrich and kangaroo meat were 'flying off the shelves' it dropped all 'exotic' meats because of 'lack of public demand'. Somerfield were next, cancelling a whole new range of prepared dishes containing 'exotic' meats. Booker, Morrisons and Asda gave up without a fight. A national day of action against Sainsbury's in July 1998 proved a public relations disaster for the company and a second one was planned for February 1999. Sainsbury's reluctantly gave in and dropped the meat just days before - because of 'lack of sales', similarly Waitrose withdrew ostrich meat just half an hour before a Viva! photo call outside a London branch.

Despite claims that ostriches are domesticated they are still wild animals, native to Africa where they live on vast grasslands and desert. They are not climatised to live on cold, wet Scottish ostrich farms where they are bred for meat. Juliet Gellatley, Viva! Director says: "It is cruel and unnatural for these magnificent birds to be farmed. They are kept in paddocks where they are unable to shed rain from their feathers and they often die from pneumonia."

Ms Gellatley is delighted with Booths decision: "This is yet another victory for wildlife against the big supermarkets. One by one they have all dropped 'exotic' meats as Viva! has focused public attention on their cruel trade in wild animals. We have no hesitation in claiming victory in this campaign, which has been fought at a local level all over Britain. The vast majority of the general public has been behind us - disgusted by the sale of kangaroo, crocodile and ostrich meat."

"We have shown that these monolithic organisations are extremely vulnerable to public pressure and we have effectively stopped them from acting as Trojan horses for the exploitation of the world's disappearing wildlife. There are clear lessons here for the future and concerns over new possible threats such as genetic modification", concludes Ms Gellatley.

Note to Editors: Detailed reports on kangaroo killing (Under Fire) and ostrich farming (Nowhere to Hide) provided the scientific support to Viva!'s campaigns and are available on request.

For further information contact Juliet Gellatley on 01273 777688