Nigeria’s bushmeat industry is thriving. It remains a firm favourite in Nigeria, and the demand is rising, despite the sale of bushmeat being official banned in the country. Bushmeat, including bats, pythons, porcupines and antelope is openly displayed alongside conventional livestock in the markets in the cities.

According to the World Bank, the illegal trade in bushmeat is worth between $7,8 billion and $10 billion a year.
That despite the fact that animals slaughtered and consumed may pose a serious health risk because of zoonotic diseases carried by many species.

Why is it still consumed? Bushmeat is traditional fare in Africa, especially in rural areas. In Nigeria, bushmeat is increasingly on the menu, whether in wet markets where live and slaughtered animals are sold, as well as cooked bushmeat sold by street vendors in cities. Some vendors sell bushmeat because the demand is there and they firmly believe it is healthier than farmed livestock. However, the World Health Organisation (WHO warns that eating bushmeat can be life-threatening, as diseases carried by wild animals can be transferred to humans.

A survey by the country’s Wildlife Conservation Society showed that more than two out of five urban Nigerians have eaten bushmeat during the past year, almost double the number in 2018. It seems to be the fourth-most profitable criminal enterprise after drugs, human trafficking and arms.

The consumption of bushmeat is a ticking time-bomb that could be deadly considering the emergence of infectious diseases that originated in animals in the past decade. According to WHO, this include the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014, and which is believed to be carried by bats.

According to the Nigerian Medical Association, practices like open-air butchering, the lack of protective equipment, and above all, the lack of veterinary screening creates a public health risk. The problem is not only in the eating, but especially in the handling, which opens up pathways for emerging infections, which cannot reliably be detected in bushmeat.

Wildlife conservationists are equally concerned because the increase in eating bushmeat is speeding up the collapse of wildlife populations. Since bushmeat is hunted indiscriminately to satisfy hungry consumers, some species, from rabbits to crocodiles to elephants, that are being hunted indiscriminately, may be endangered by the trend. Rare animals can fetch more than $650, which encourages reckless hunting without regard for long-term survival of the species.

Driven by rising demand for bushmeat, Nigerian hunters, who see nothing wrong with killing and selling bushmeat, shoot any wild creature they encounter, whether pregnant females, juveniles or endangered species. Traders disguise the meat of endangered species, and police turn a blind eye. They often lack the training and tools to identify species and cannot tell the difference between what is legal and what is not, therefore law enforcement is lacking.

Despite increased fines of up to 5000 naira ($3 269) and a jail sentence of up to five years since 2016 for hunting or trading endangered animals like pangolins, pythons, sea turtles, monkeys and civets, hunters and traders are not deterred, as long as they have customers, including the police and customs officers.

Bushmeat is increasingly popular in Nigeria, not only in rural areas but also in cities. (Source: https://africageographic.com/stories/saving-rodents-losing-primates-we-need-tailored-strategies-to-manage-bushmeat-trade/)

Zoonotic diseases

Zoonotic diseases are transmitted from animals to humans. These animals include primates, bats, rodents and antelopes and the diseases can be spread by hunting, butchering, as well as smoking and cooking the meat. The main diseases that are carried over to humans include viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases.

Viral diseases

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is associated with hunting and or handling of fruit bats, primates, like chimpanzees, gorillas and monkeys, as well as duikers in West and Central Africa. Marburg Virus Disease is also linked to bats and handling of primates. Monkeypox (Mpox) is linked to handling and or consumption of rodents and monkeys, and cases have been traced to bushmeat preparation. Simian foamy virus, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) is carried by primates; SIV is believed to be the ancestor of HIV. Rabies can be transmitted if bitten by infected wild animals during hunting or butchering. Other haemorrhagic fevers include Lassa fever that is linked to Mastomys rodents that are sometimes hunted and eaten.

Bushmeat hunters have no qualms about hunting and selling bushmeat to willing customers. (Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-25/as-bushmeat-consumption-grows-nigerian-doctors-fear-outbreaks?embedded-checkout=true)

Bacterial diseases

  • Salmonellosis is linked to contaminated meat or poor handling.
  • Anthrax can be present in antelope, wild bovids, and other ungulates.
  • Brucellosis is found in wild pigs and ungulates.
  • Leptospirosis is linked to contact with rodent urine during hunting or meat preparation.
  • Tuberculosis (bovine TB) is found in some wild ruminants.

Parasitic diseases

  • Trichinellosis is contracted from eating undercooked wild pigs, warthogs, or other carnivores.
  • Toxoplasmosis is found in wild mammals and can infect humans through undercooked meat.
  • Trypanosomiasis, or Sleeping Sickness is linked to some wild animal reservoirs like antelope that can harbour parasites spread by tsetse flies; it is not directly meat-related but linked to hunting zones.
  • Tapeworms and roundworms are liked to undercooked meat of wild animals.

Food Safety Risks

•Improper smoking and or drying can leave pathogens alive in bushmeat.
•Cross-contamination of knives, surfaces and water spreads pathogens from carcasses to humans.
•Zoonotic spillover hotspots include butchering sites, bushmeat markets, and kitchens with poor hygiene.

In Nigeria specifically, the highest risks are from Lassa fever linked to rodents, monkeypox carried by rodents and primates, anthrax carried by ungulates, and salmonella from poor meat hygiene.

The biggest global health concerns tied to bushmeat are Ebola, Marburg, Lassa fever, and Monkeypox because of their epidemic potential.

Table 1: Risk by species

Here’s a risk-by-species table showing which diseases are associated with different types of bushmeat in Nigeria/West Africa and the level of danger to humans:

Summary

•Primates and bats are most dangerous as they have strong links to Ebola, Marburg, HIV, and other deadly viruses.
•Rodents are a major everyday risk in Nigeria because of Lassa fever outbreaks.
•Ungulates like antelope such as duiker can transmit anthrax, which has caused human deaths in West Africa.
•Wild pigs and carnivores carry both bacterial and parasitic risks.
•Reptiles and wild birds are less culturally important bushmeat but still carry foodborne risks, such as Avian Influenza.

Next article

Replacing bushmeat with alternatives, including chicken, goat, catfish, farmed grasscutter rodents and snails is much safer for both public health and biodiversity. More about these alternatives in the next article.

Resource references

Bonwitt, J., Saez, A. M., Lamin, J., Ansumana, R., et al (2017). At Home with Mastomys and Rattus: Human-Rodent Interactions and Potential for Primary Transmission of Lassa Virus in Domestic Spaces Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2017 Apr 5;96(4):935–943. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.16-0675. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5392645/ PMCID: PMC5392645 PMID: 28167603

Saving rodents, losing primates – we need tailored strategies to manage bushmeat trade (2020) Africa Geographic
https://africageographic.com/stories/saving-rodents-losing-primates-we-need-tailored-strategies-to-manage-bushmeat-trade/

Sofiullahi, A. (2025) As Bushmeat Consumption Grows, Nigerian Doctors Fear Outbreaks. Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-25/as-bushmeat-consumption-grows-nigerian-doctors-fear-outbreaks?embedded-checkout=true

Understanding Urban Consumption of Bushmeat in Nigeria January 2021
https://wildaid.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Nigeria-Bushmeat-Consumption-Survey-Report.pdf

Zoonotic Diseases (2024) Cleveland Clinic
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/zoonotic-diseases