Lemurs are being eaten as an urban delicacy in Madagascar

In Madagascar’s cities, a quiet but lucrative market is reshaping the future of one of the world’s most imperiled groups of animals. Lemurs—already the most threatened mammals on the planet—are being sold as a kind of urban delicacy, traded through discreet channels that rarely resemble the conventional wildlife markets familiar across Africa or Asia. A study published in the journal Conservation Letters shows just how large this shadow economy has become, and how little time remains to address it.

Researchers interviewed 2,600 people across 17 cities and traced the trade from restaurants back to forests. What they found was not a fringe activity. One in every 12 restaurants sold wild meat, and roughly one in every 200 served lemur. That may sound small, but restaurants are only the visible part of the system. More than 94% of lemur sales happen directly between hunters and trusted clients. Once that hidden portion is counted, the authors estimate that nearly 13,000 lemurs are sold each year in the surveyed cities alone. The true number is likely higher, because even hunters willing to speak tend to underreport their catch.

The supply chain is short and surprisingly efficient. Peri-urban hunters operate as one-stop businesses: they track lemurs, shoot them, process them, and deliver the meat. Some travel up to 200 kilometers to reach suitable forests. Most work discreetly from temporary hamlets near hunting sites; villages nearby often have no idea what is happening in their own patch of forest. Firearms, not snares, do the work. Hunters complain about the cost of guns and ammunition, yet the returns are too high to ignore. For several, lemur sales accounted for nearly a third of annual cash income.

Consumers, meanwhile, have their own logic. In interviews, buyers described lemur meat as tastier, richer, and somehow “cleaner” than domestic meat. They praised the supposed health benefits, noting that lemurs eat “medicinal” forest foods, high in trees far from pollution. Some framed the purchase as a small act of self-care or a way to break up monotonous diets. Others admitted that eating lemur felt transgressive but appealing. A few dismissed legal risks entirely; by the time the meat reaches the pot, they said, enforcement officials “don’t really care.”

Prices reinforce the perception of luxury. A lemur dish costs several times more than a plate of beef, goat, or chicken. Restaurants that serve wild meat tend to cater to wealthier customers and offer more variety than standard eateries. For them, lemur is not a staple but a special draw, one that helps distinguish their menu from competitors.

The ecological consequences are predictable and grim. The trade disproportionately targets large-bodied species, especially brown and ruffed lemurs. These are not abundant animals. Some ruffed lemur populations number only in the hundreds. Hunting peaks during the fat season, which overlaps with breeding and infant-rearing. That timing accelerates decline. And because hunters often keep or gift a portion of their catch before reaching clients, the impact on wild populations exceeds what appears in market records.

Stopping this traffic will be difficult. Urban demand is high, driven less by hunger than by taste, status, and a sense of wellness. Rural food-security programs, while important, will not touch the core of this market. Nor will simply tightening enforcement around protected areas, since much of the activity occurs outside formal park boundaries and involves buyers who face almost no legal consequences.

The authors argue for a more realistic approach: enforce existing firearm rules, expand licensing requirements, and create pathways for hunters to leave the trade without risking their livelihoods. Demand-reduction campaigns may help, but only if they recognize why consumers value lemur meat in the first place. Madagascar’s cities are growing quickly, and with them a pattern of consumption that forests cannot sustain. Without a coordinated strategy, some of the country’s most iconic primates could be driven from the forests and survive only in memory, their final role having been as a luxury food.

Citation:

Cortni Borgerson, Be Noel Razafindrapaoly, and Be Jean Rodolph Rasolofoniaina. Madagascar’s Urban Lemur Meat Trade. Conservation Letters Volume 18, Issue 6. November/December 2025. First published: 22 November 2025 https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13163

This article by Rhett Ayers Butler was first published by Mongabay on 28 November 2025.