Clara, A lifelong interest in sampling a variety of bushmeat is hardly a sufficient reason to warrant the sort of program that you are proposing. Given that you have acknowledged that you have no way of asking any sort of controlled scientific question, this proposal is the equivalent of gastronomically- centered trophy hunting. The bush meat trade in many parts of the world severely undermines conservation efforts in a world already quite severely impacted by anthropogenic changes in land use and climate. It is ethically unsound to add to this problem so that you can satiate a desire to pursue "sciency play". Additionally, there is the carbon footprint associated with sending you frozen bushmeat from various parts of the world to satisfy your curiosity to consider. This is the sort of behavior that makes the public distrustful (rightly so) of how scientists spend publicly generated federal funds.
Appealing to a sense of tradition by citing your genealogical connection to food justifies your proposal little more than your suggestion that you are part of a subculture of "life listers" when it comes to diversity of species consumption. Unless you have a justifiable research question that promises to gain traction on a reasonable area of scientific inquiry, I appeal to you to consider your ethical responsibilities as well as the consequences of your actions. Cheers, Matthew Chmielewski PhD Student Center For Life In Extreme Environments Biology Department Portland State University
