Rising bushmeat demand in local cuisine alarms conservationists in Puducherry

Rising bushmeat demand in Puducherry alarms conservationists amid escalating poaching, health risks, and dwindling wildlife populations.

The rising popularity of bushmeat (meat of wild animals or birds) in regional cuisine has set off alarm bells among conservationists, who fear that poor vigilance against organised poaching at bird sanctuaries and waterbodies may have turned what was, not too long ago, a rare delicacy into regular fare.

Conservationists contend that while the sale of meat of water birds and live parakeets during weekends is not uncommon in Puducherry, the trade in bushmeat has now flourished unabated on all days of the week, thanks to poor vigilance by the Forest authorities.

Odiampet village near Villianur has emerged as the epicentre of this organised poaching, with water birds and small mammals hunted by poachers from forest fringes near the Oussudu Bird Sanctuary and far-off places in neighbouring Tamil Nadu being brought here for sale to prospective customers.

The birds often killed include munias, Eurasian moorhens, grey-headed swamphens, garganeys, whistling ducks, open-billed storks, Indian spot-billed ducks, Indian pond herons, egrets and weaver birds, along with mammals such as the palm civet, black-naped hare, porcupine, and jungle cat.

Of these, the garganey is a migratory bird listed under the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA). The cotton pygmy goose is the world’s smallest waterfowl.

On the roadside of the Odiampet-Thirukanchi Road, vendors offer motorists a pair of live parakeets for an average price of ₹500 to ₹1,000, while meat of jungle cat and black-naped hare is priced at ₹800 per kg.