Game meat consumption low despite wildlife growth
Wild meat under preparation. PHOTO/FILE/COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Game meat is hailed as being healthy due to its low levels of fat and cholesterol, and rich in Omega-6 fatty acids, making it a healthy source of good fat.
The number of animals in Uganda’s national game parks and game reserves have increased significantly due to conservation efforts by Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Sunday Monitor has learnt.
Information from UWA indicates that, over the past 30 years, Uganda has registered an increase in the number of elephants from 2,000 to 6,000.
During the 2018 wildlife census, UWA registered 3,953 elephants in Queen Elizabeth National Park—up from 2,913 in 2015. Today, the number has grown to nearly 4,000.
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Buffaloes, whose figures stood at 1,500 before March last year, are now well above 1,700.
Mr Bashir Hangi, the UWA communications manager, told Sunday Monitor in an interview recently that the Authority uses money from sports hunting to conserve wildlife.
UWA is a semi-autonomous government agency that aims to conserve, manage and regulate Uganda’s wildlife. It is also mandated to give sports hunting concessions and licences for importation of game meat.
Mr Hangi, however, added that only one Kampala-based restaurant—The Lawns—was licensed to import game meat because it is expensive.
The meat from animals killed during sports hunting is sold to restaurants that cook game meat. However, many Ugandans do not consume game meat.
Ms Meena Patel, the managing director of The Lawns Wild Game and Barbecue Restaurant, in a telephone interview, said: “...currently, we have seven different species of antelope and crocodiles on the menu. Ugandans are less exposed to adventurous meat, I can say. There is not enough market for it; out of about 200 customers per day, about 20 percent experiment with game meat.”
Ms Meena Patel, the Managing Director of Kololo-based The Lawns Restaurant. PHOTO/COURTESY
She added that The Lawns’ game meat is more popular with tourists, foreigners and Kenyans, from whom she got the idea during the Carnivore festival.
Since opening shop in Uganda in 2009, Ms Patel has been importing game meat from South Africa and spending “thousands of dollars” until 2021 when she got permission from UWA to source it locally from hunting companies.
Subsequently, she entered a memorandum of understanding, which sees some of her business proceeds ploughed back to the communities around game parks.
“Every game meat consumed supports the livelihood of those communities and wildlife conservation,” she said.
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Mr Simon Sunny Wejuli, a resident of Gayaza in Wakiso District, described game meat as “too nice, but not better than pork”.
He, however, thinks Ugandans’ reluctance to consume it depends on one’s exposure. “I used to eat it a lot in Liberia; so, it depends on which Ugandans you ask,” he said.
Game meat is hailed as being healthy due to its low levels of fat and cholesterol, and rich in Omega-6 fatty acids, making it a healthy source of good fat.
