Laos bushmeat

I actually submitted this article in Feb 2007 but the editor didn't publish as she thought the animal rights people would criticise. So I was surprised to find it published in Jan 2009.
See more photos on bush meat in Laos markets.

THE STAR, Lifestyle
Saturday January 3, 2009

Bush meat, bats and buffaloes
By LIZ PRICE

Bored with your basic food groups? Explore potentially new sources of protein in Laos.
I don’t enjoy cooking, so rather than visit a wet market, I prefer to buy my meat and vegetables from a supermarket. And even then, I tend to be quite conservative and invariably buy meat neatly packaged with Clingfilm.
Typical of many English people, I tend to eat just the meat and discard all the rest – the innards, head, feet and tail.
My mother at the young age of 79 came out to Kuala Lumpur to visit me, and I clearly remember her horror when I showed her the packs of chicken feet neatly arranged in rows on their trays at the supermarket. And when I told her Malaysians love to eat fish head and that it was considered a delicacy, she began to question my sanity.

At first glance, the morning market at Luang Prabang looks like a typical wet market but a closer look reveals that among the fresh vegetables and fruits, there are exotic meats like monitor lizards, frogs, civets, birds and slugs. – THE STAR

So I haven’t yet told her about the “bush meat” I saw on sale in the markets of Laos.
The Lao will hunt and eat virtually anything that moves. So going to a local market is quite an eye-opener. At times I wished I had my field book on mammals to identify what I saw. While trekking in Laos, we saw no wildlife at all, except for the occasional bird. They were all at the market!
But we did see plenty of people out with traps and snares, nets, catapults and slingshots to catch any animal they see. Nothing is spared.
My friends had arrived in Luang Prabang before me. Knowing I had an interest in bats, they told me they had seen bats for sale at the local market. I was really excited to hear this, and next morning paid an early, pre-breakfast visit to the market. Little did I know that for the next three weeks I would see bats in every market, every day.
There were fruit bats and insect-eating bats. Some were dead, some still alive. Some were sold individually, others sold in bundles tied up with string. There were even miniature ones sold in lots of five, grilled between two wooden sticks. However, I didn’t see any of the large fruit bats, so maybe the supply was already exhausted.
Apart from bats, there were rats too. These were all dead, but some were very fresh with blood still oozing out, others were skinned, and a few were dried while some were almost mummified. I saw ordinary rats as well as white-bellied rats. The latter were quite attractive with their brown and white coats.

A variety of birds, mammals and rodents can be found at the market.
However, I was most fascinated by the bamboo rats, as these were still alive. Some were held captive in cages, whilst others were tethered.
The first one lunged at me as I tried to get close to take a photo. It attempted to take a chunk out of my camera with its large yellow teeth. From then on, I kept a distance from their strong choppers. These bamboo rats have stocky bodies, and large feet and claws designed for digging bamboo roots.
Other rodents commonly seen were squirrels. There were various types, the most attractive being the ones with the reddish fur.
Surprisingly, I saw very few chickens in the markets and villages. Although we saw pigs, there wasn’t an abundance of chickens. However, we did hear the noisy roosters, which woke us each morning.
Some market stalls were devoted to buffaloes. The whole animal was there for sale in various pieces, from horn to hooves.
At the markets, frogs were large and kept alive in bowls. Others were tied together with string. I only saw one snake, a species of Racer.
Laos is a landlocked country. In markets in the northeast, I saw sea fish, so probably these came from Vietnam. And in Luang Prabang, there were large fish straight from the Mekong River.
Last but not least, were the birds – Green Cochoa, Golden-throated Barbets, Asian Barred Owlet and partridges (maybe Mountain Bamboo partridge).
I have to admit we did try some of these exotic foods. First was squirrel, which wasn’t too bad, although it was rather bony.
We then ordered bamboo rat. This definitely wasn’t a favourite as the meat was tough and rubbery; there were lots of bones, and the skin was tough and fatty. I didn’t enjoy eating this, partly because I felt sorry for the animal. But I did keep the feet and a tail for a ­souvenir!