Nutria, an invasive species, has caused erosion and loss of habitat in approximately 20 states across the U.S.
A new source of sustenance has been added to people’s diets in certain regions of the U.S.
Wildlife agencies are urging locals to eat an invasive rodent wreaking havoc on the surrounding ecosystem in states on the Gulf and the Atlantic Coast and in the Pacific Northwest.
“EAT ME! Please? I’m invasive and delicious,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wrote in a Feb. 24 Facebook post advising some people to start hunting and eating nutria, a big, semi-aquatic rodent native to South America. (Check your state’s regulations before you hunt, the agency advises.)
“It’s National Invasive Species Awareness Week and this year, please consider the following slogan: ‘Save a Swamp, Sauté a Nutria.’ ”
The push to eat more of the species, which is supposed to taste like rabbit or turkey, came last month from the agency as it fights to eradicate the problem. Oregon and Mississippi, along with other states, are overrun with the animal, which was first brought to the U.S. in 1889 for its fur, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
When the nutria fur market collapsed in the 1940s, ranchers released thousands of nutria into the wild. For decades, the states the species inhabit have paid the price.
“Their nonstop munching and burrowing destroy the plants that keep marshes stable,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service continued, “leading to erosion, loss of habitat and wetlands that look like something out of a disaster movie.”
For a nutria recipe, Erin Higgins, a digital strategist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, suggests a Louisiana tradition. “Nutria gumbo,” she wrote in a post entitled “Eat the Invaders.”
“Their meat is lean, mild and tastes like rabbit,” she wrote.
The recommendation to eat the animal has received a myriad of responses.
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“I’ve heard they’re delicious prepared and served like some good pulled pork,” wrote one follower in response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s post.
Another person was more skeptical.
“I’d eat a lot of things but I draw the line at Giant rats,” she wrote on Facebook.
Nutria aren’t the only invasive species wildlife agencies have suggested locals put in a stew.
Higgins writes that the northern snakehead, green iguana, invasive carp and feral hogs are other species that need to be eradicated by fork (and other conservation efforts).
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct references to the states where people are encouraged to eat nutria. The regions do not include California.
