A bird in the pot or two in the bush?

摘要

West Africa cannot boast the rich bird and animal life that brings droves of tourists to Kenya and Botswana in zebra-painted vans. The national parks are unimpressive. The rainforests are quiet. The savannas are stirred only by the wind. Where did all the animals go? A lot of them, it seems, have been eaten. As I bicycled with my wife through Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, we saw the relentless harvest of "bush meat" all around us. Men held up bloody flanks of duiker to tempt passing motorists to buy.