Elephant meat

The bodies of elephants have a relatively high fat content,[1] with one prominent fatty area being the foot pads of the feet.

One of the oldest sites suggested to represent elephant butchery is from Dmanisi in Georgia with cut marks found on the bones of the extinct mammoth species Mammuthus meridionalis, which dates to around 1.8 million years ago,[4] with other butchery sites for this species reported from Spain dating to around 1.2 million years ago.

[10] In some Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer groups (such as the North American Clovis culture), mammoths are thought to have made up a significant proportion of their diet.

As of 2007[update], wildlife experts expressed concerns that the major threat to elephants may become the demand for meat rather than the ivory trade.

[12] Organisations such as the WWF and TRAFFIC are campaigning to reduce consumption levels as this, along with the ivory trade, leads to as many as 55 individuals being killed a day.

[13] African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) are hunted by various hunter-gather groups in the Congo basin, including by Mbuti pygmies, among others.

It is unknown how long the active hunting of elephants in the region has been practised, and it may have only begun as a response for the demand for ivory beginning in the 19th century or earlier.

Elephants are traditionally hunted using spears, typically to stab at the lower abdomen (as is done among the Mbuti) or knees, both of which are effective at rendering the animal immobile.

Following the death of the animal, the Mbuti hunters returned to their homes, with the whole community moving to dismember the elephant carcass.

Then the lead hunter, usually alone but sometimes with a small number of the party, approaches the elephant, before attempting to shoot it in the heart, or less often, the head, while positioned to the side and posterior of the animal.

[16] Scottish explorer David Livingstone describes how he ate an elephant during the Zambezi expedition in an 1861 letter to Lord Palmerston.

These are individuals with wealth, usually people with influence in the military, government, or the business world, and are known to fund elephant hunts.

In 2012, wildlife officials in Thailand expressed the concern that a new taste for elephant meat consumption could pose a risk to their survival.

[22] The meat may be charred on the outside and smoked at the site where the elephant is killed, to preserve it during transportation to populated areas for sale.

Assamese scriptures prescribe various meats, including that of the elephant, to recover from illness and to stay in good health.