The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is urging Americans to fill their bellies with invasive species that are wreaking havoc on habitats across the country.
As part of its National Invasive Species Awareness Week, which ends Friday, the agency released a list of five invasive creatures that they’re encouraging people to hunt and eat as a way to protect native species.
“Some of the biggest ecological nightmares are critters that don’t belong here,” the USFWS wrote in a public advisory released late last week. “Invasive species outcompete native wildlife, destroy habitats, and mess up ecosystems. But rather than just complaining about them, let’s put them on the menu.”
‘Something out of a disaster movie’
At the top of the list is the nutria, a large, water-loving rodent that resembles a beaver without the trademark flat tail. Nutria are native to the swamps of South America. They were brought to the U.S. by fur traders in the 1930s, and many were released into the wild after the market for nutria fur dried up. Since then, nutria have been a menace in marshlands in several regions of the country — particularly along the Gulf Coast, but also on the Atlantic coast and in the Pacific Northwest and parts of California.
Nutria are a perfect example of how the introduction of an invasive species can throw off the delicate balance that has developed inside vulnerable ecosystems over centuries of evolution. They are voracious herbivores that can consume up to a quarter of their body weight in a single day. They eat so much that they can devastate the local plant species that keep marshlands stable.
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“Their nonstop munching and burrowing destroy the plants that keep marshes stable, leading to erosion, loss of habitat, and wetlands that look like something out of a disaster movie,” the USFWS wrote in a Facebook post.
Along with the federal government, at least five states have launched nutria eradication programs over the past 25 years that have significantly reduced the damage these creatures cause. In the year 2000, nutria were estimated to be destroying 100,000 acres of Louisiana wetlands per year, according to the state’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Last year, that figure had dropped to just 5,500 acres.
Government conservationists are hoping that the appeal of a tasty meal might encourage local hunters to help support their anti-nutria campaign. The USFWS describes nutria meat as lean and mild, with a flavor similar to “rabbit or even the dark meat of a turkey.”
A cookbook published in 1963 lists nearly two dozen nutria recipes, including Chicken Fried Nutria and Macaroni-Nutria Casserole. The state of Louisiana has even shared a recipe for Smoked Nutria and Andouille Sausage Gumbo.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recognizes more than 200 invasive species that exist throughout the country. That list includes land animals, sea creatures, bugs, plants and even viruses. Most of the entries are either inedible or unappealing to eat.
The other edible, or even downright tasty, creatures on the USFWS list are the northern snakehead fish, the green iguana, several species of invasive carp and feral hogs.
The agency urges anyone considering embarking on an invasive species hunt to check with local authorities to ensure that it’s legal where they live and to take special care when preparing the meat to avoid any risk of foodborne illness that is inherent any time you’re dealing with wild game.
