Chimpanzee. Getty Images.
The mere thought of eating an endangered species is just about enough to send NewsFeed running for some vegan cookbooks.
Trading authorities in the United Kingdom were testing samples of meat thought to be seized from illegal vendors when they discovered that the unidentified meat was actually that of chimpanzees.
(More on TIME.com: Saving the world’s endangered species)
The illegal trade of bushmeat is known to be thriving in Europe–research done on the import of bushmeat into Europe last year found over 270 tons passing through one airport in Paris alone. Yet experts are still expressing shock over the discovery of meat from chimpanzees, an endangered species.
Dr Marcus Rowcliffe, of the Zoological Society of London and an expert on the illegal meat trade, told the Daily Mail, “it is not often that chimpanzee is found as that is rare even in the markets of Africa, so I am surprised by that.”
Although it’s hard to determine exactly how much chimpanzee meat is being sold on the black market, the entire bushmeat trade is still risky for both people and animals. Apart from the health risks that are involved in buying and selling meat illegally, the trade also leads to dwindling numbers of some species.
(More on TIME.com: See pictures of primatologist Jane Goodall)
According to the Daily Mail, Adina Farmaner, Executive Director of the Jane Goodall Institute UK, reports that ‘The bushmeat trade is a huge problem in certain parts of Africa and is one of the main reasons the population in the wild has been reduced from approximately one million about 50 years ago, to just a few hundred thousand today.” (via Daily Mail)