The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) wants the public to eat an invasive rodent called the nutria—seriously. To kick off National Invasive Species Awareness Week, USFWS shared a post about these animals and the damage they cause to ecosystems in which they’re not native. The agency even proposes the following slogan for invasive species awareness week: “Save a Swamp, Sauté a Nutria.”
The nutria (Myocastor coypus) is a large, semi-aquatic rodent native to South America. In the United States, nutria are invasive in at least 20 states, where they reproduce at a high rate and cause “severe damage” to vegetation and crops. The USDA says nutria can cause “permanent damage” to marshes and other wetlands by feeding on native plants that hold wetland soil together.
That’s why, apparently, we should eat them. The USFWS says nutria meat tastes like rabbit or the dark meat of a turkey.
“EAT ME! Please? I’m invasive and delicious,” wrote the USFWS in a recent post to kick off National Invasive Species Awareness Week. “These invasive pests were brought here for their fur and began to escape captivity back in the 1940s. 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. [. . .] If your state has nutria, check your local regulations to see the rules for how to hunt, capture and then ultimately, cook these nuisance critters.”
See the USFWS’s post about why people should eat nutria here:
Header image of a nutria at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge by Kathleen Moore via USFWS Facebook post.