Study: 5 Tons of Bushmeat Smuggled Into Paris Weekly

June 18) -- Smoked monkey carcasses, preserved porcupines, giant rats and fresh crocodile meat, all stuffed into ordinary suitcases, make up the roughly 5 tons of African bushmeat smuggled into Paris every week for purchase by local ethnic restaurants, according to a team of international researchers.

Smuggling bushmeat, which sells for 10 times in Europe what it does in Africa, is considered a luxury business. But it's also a potentially serious health hazard for humans and animals, according to the results of an investigation by French and British researchers published this week in the journal Conservation Letters.

The investigation, thought to be the first systematic study of the scale and nature of the international bushmeat trade, was the brainchild of 27-year-old French veterinarian Anne-Lise Chaber, formerly of the Royal Veterinary College of London.

Zoological Society of London / AP

French and British researchers have estimated that about 5 tons of African bushmeat are smuggled into Paris every week. This June 2008 image shows a species of primate that was smoked prior to transportation.

Chaber was present alongside customs officers at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport during the 17-day operation when they chose random suitcases to open for inspection. About 40 percent of the meat came from endangered species, especially from Cameroon and the Central African Republic, areas of tropical forest where livestock such as cattle are not available and the consumption of wild animals, such as monkeys, is common.

In a telephone interview today with AOL News from her new job in a wildlife park in the United Arab Emirates, Chaber said her initial motivation to investigate bushmeat smuggling was a desire to protect endangered species.

She said she was unprepared for the sight of smoked monkey carcasses sliced in half and wrapped in newspapers in old suitcases -- and pieces of fresh crocodile floating in blood and tied up in plastic bags.

"It all smelled bad," Chaber said. "But I guess it's partly because I didn't grow up with it. I just found it disgusting."

Smuggling in meat, especially when the carcasses are poorly packed and preserved, can result in livestock diseases such as foot and mouth disease and swine fever as well as deadly viruses like ebola, said Marcus Rowcliffe, of the Zoological Society of London, another one of the researchers.

The AIDS virus was traced back to monkeys, and the global 2003 SARS outbreak began as a virus in bats and civets, arboreal mammals native to the tropics of Africa and Asia.

Rowcliffe said all the smuggled bushmeat is for human consumption. In Paris, most bushmeat is sold to African restaurants in the city's Chateau Rouge quarter.

"It's easy for westerners to think, yech, but people in some African immigrant communities in Paris, for example, grew up on this meat and it tastes good to them," Rowcliffe told AOL News today. "So there's a market for it -- a much bigger one than we realized, and a pretty profitable one."

Chaber recalled how she held a preserved porcupine just plucked from a suitcase in customs and noted out loud its foul smell.

"The person who had smuggled it in just reached over and took some of the porcupine from my hand and said she'd be happy to eat it," Chaber said. "It's just not something I'm used to."

Chaber said many recipes for cooking monkeys are available online. She said that most bushmeat is cooked for a long time to soften it before eating.

The investigation involved checking suitcases belonging to 134 passengers arriving on 29 flights from 14 African nations.

Nine people were found to be carrying a total of 188 kilograms of bushmeat from 11 different species, including two kinds of monkeys, two kinds of crocodiles and three types of rodent.

Rowcliffe said that researchers used that data to calculate that up to 270 tons of bushmeat may be smuggled in every year.

Rowcliffe also said that bushmeat smuggling is relatively easy and very lucrative. Customs officials don't make detection and seizure of it a priority, and even if smugglers are caught, penalties are rather low -- especially in light of how much the traders can make on the open market.