Generally speaking, the importation of any wild game meat into the United States is strictly regulated and in most cases prohibited (with the exception of Canada). When hunters from the US travel outside of North America, the only thing they are regularly permitted to bring back are the trophy (head, horns, tusks, cape, etc.). All meat stays in the host country and is oftentimes distributed to local communities. The only meat that's consumed by the hunter is whatever they choose to eat while still in the host country. Even if the hunter wanted to bring meat back, it's generally not feasible. In addition to the enormous cost and red tape one would need to go through to ship/import/inspect, many locations simply don't have the facilities to properly process and preserve (freeze) that much meat for transport.
-Matt On Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 11:02 AM, Lauren Satterfield <[email protected]>wrote: > Not to mention...is this even legal? Shipping bushmeat across international > borders? > > Lauren > > On Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 10:07 AM, David L. McNeely <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > I do not see enough scientific value in this endeavor to justify the > > potential conservation harm. Bush meat is a serious conservation concern > > in substantial parts of the tropics. For a person from a wealthy country > > to encourage this practice for the sake of what is admitted to be play > > rather than a serious scientific endeavor seems to me to be unethical. > The > > scientific questions mentioned could be addressed much more directly with > > experiments involving particular species that are not threatened and are > > not regular parts of the bush meat trade. Of course, to design such > > experiments, a person would need to be knowledgeable enough about the > > species involved and their ecology to know what he or she was doing. > > > > Jared Diamond has addressed the matter of consumption of the flesh of > bird > > specimens collected for science (only the skins and skeletons were > normally > > preserved for scientific purposes) and their relative palatability in his > > works on New Guinea ornithology. He mentions in those discussions > whether > > his New Guinean native assistants regularly ate particular birds or not, > > and the reasons they gave him. Perhaps the investigator could begin her > > studies by investigating what is already known in this area. > > > > What this "investigation" sounds like is simply a desire on the part of > > the "investigator" to collect gastronomic trophies. Please don't. > > > > David McNeely > > > > ---- "Clara B. Jones" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Ecolog-l-ers: > > > 1. ...several individuals have posted me asking to share more about > why i > > > want to sample "bushmeat"... > > > 2. ...there's really no reason not to be open w this project [intended > to > > > be fun, anecdotal, and a type of "sciency" play for me]... > > > 3. ...the primary thing i'd like to get some sense of is whether > > qualities > > > of the aftertastes [and associated physical after-effects] of > terrestrial > > > folivores and/or primarily folivorous animals correlate in any manner > > with > > > preferences of the animals as prey... > > > 4. ...however i go about this, there will be many problems related to > > > reliability & validity that i will not be in a position to [nor, > > > particularly, interested in] control [variation of all sorts, e.g., > > > gustatory variations, chemical defense, and, sebaceous gland, > > variations, & > > > in humans, cooking & other culinary treatments, etc, etc]... > > > 5. ...nonetheless, though this project is"fishing", it's something > i've > > > wanted to do for a long time... > > > 6. ...obviously, i can begin with folivorous taxa i've already tasted > [a > > > few in No Am*, a few in Central America*]... > > > 7. ...based upon 1 of my studies + interviews + observation, etc, in > the > > > tropics over some period of *T*, frugivores &/or non-folivorous > > herbivores > > > are preferred tissue [as one would expect, i suppose]...[e.g., > > frugivorous > > > spider monkeys preferred to folivorous howler monkeys; many animal > > tissues > > > preferred to opossums] > > > 8. ...the literature i've perused so far [v interesting stuff by Tom > > Kunz] > > > basically rules out volant taxa [birds, bats]...in the US... > > > 9. ...among terrestrial taxa in the US, i would guess that some spp of > > rats > > > & snakes [& numerous insects] are folivores or, predominantly, > > folivorous... > > > 10. ...however, on balance, i do not know what they might be nor would > i > > > know whether they are common or, whether the snakes might be poisonous > > but > > > edible... > > > 11. ...directly related to the above, for quite some time, i've been > > > interested in what, if any, adaptive significance [rather than simply > > > byproduct effects] "gaminess" may be all about; though, i haven't > looked > > at > > > the literature to see what is already stated on this topic... > > > 12. ...because, for me, at present, this exercise is equivalent to > "play" > > > [an aside to other things], i am only hoping to generate some ideas, > > maybe > > > a few serious questions, maybe thoughts about rigorous research > > designs... > > > 13. ...i am aware that there are many scientific and commercial studies > > > related to my exercise...both in the field [e.g., Paul Garber's work w > > > monkeys], in the lab [e.g., John Garcia's work w rats], and in industry > > > [e.g., "taste tests"]... > > > 12. ...if any of this interests any of you, please do not hesitate to > > > contact me...best, clara > > > > > > *...as a granddaughter and daughter of 3 gourmands, as a field worker, > > as a > > > traveler, as a relative & friend of many serious hunters & fishermen, > as > > > well as, as a serious home cook, i have more experience than average > > with a > > > relatively wide range of capture [e.g., some trapping], preparations, > and > > > foods, themselves [e.g., exotic produce & meat, eggs, entrails, wild > > > foraging, etc]...i severely qualify these statements knowing, and, > > > acknowledging, that many of you have, not only, more, and a wider range > > of, > > > examples & experiences than i, but that, many of you have, no doubt, > > > sampled a much wider range of exotic organisms than have i and on many > > more > > > continents...i understand that, in the domain of "wild" foods, there > are > > > "lifers" as well as in birding... > > > > > > -- > > > Clara B. Jones > > > Director > > > Mammals and Phenogroups (MaPs) > > > Blog: http://vertebratesocialbehavior.blogspot.com > > > Twitter: http://twitter.com/cbjones1943 > > > Cell: -828-279-4429 > > > Brief CV: > > > > > > http://vertebratesocialbehavior.blogspot.com/2012/10/clara-b-jones-brief-cv.html > > > > > > > > > "Where no estimate of error of any kind can be made, generalizations > > about > > > populations from sample data are worthless." Ferguson, 1959 > > > > -- > > David McNeely > > >
