Bushmeat

Its deep seated in the culture
In the tradition of a place
In Africa it is illegal
And these days a disgrace
Wild and feral animals
The sick ones too can be
Victims in the killing
Which is why now purposefully

The authorities are adament
The practice has to be
Outlawed it can spread disease
With ebola ranging free
The use of bats and primates
And the preparers they
Are At risk from the diseases
Happening today

Bushmeat Calls out problems
To biodiversity
Poverty brings out the need
And commercial actvity
Snares and traps and nets and arrows
The gun of course as well
Bring down the wild creatures
And create a living hell

Its the protein they are after
Ancestral food preferred
Where nutrition is a problem
Is where mostly its occurrred
The law is very lazy
And in every market we
See hordes and hordes of bush meat
Its there apparently

When its been cooked
Its safe to eat
Its the butchers that take the can
Particulaly using fruit bats
There ought to be a ban
But ebola’s in the shadows
Dormant waiting to
Infect the unsuspecting
For that is what they do

The carnivores are suffering
As prey animals are caught
And then they go for domesticated animals
In short
Gunned down by the Walters Palmer’s
Dotted around the place
Willing to shoot at anything
That is going to show their face

The emphasis is on hunters
On poachers and the rest
And these so called local killers
Their action is far from blessed
Commercially they are profitting
And individually too
And risking the lives of many
By tranmitting disease all through

Despites the risks the clamour
In the markets it is there
Pangolins rats and fruit bats
And monkeys everywhere
Cooked up smoked whatever
This black mixture seemingly
Apparently like gold dust
And it sells out instantly

The law makers must realise
The losses are immense
Poverty is forcing some
to forgo any sense
West Africa is reeling
The feral scene on fire
Existence and expectation
Looks and feels so dire