Porcupine, bats and caterpillar found in freezers

10-Dec-2013 - Last updated on 10-Dec-2013 at 11:58 GMT

Porcupine meat was found in freezers in Paris (Picture credit: flickr/Heidi Schuyt)

Police have seized nearly 90kg of bushmeat including porcupine, gazelle and bats from premises in Paris, France last week.

Inspectors found three freezers with "five porcupines, about 15 gazelles, 20 bats and caterpillars," according to a police spokesman.

A source close to the investigation claimed "these meats are not subject to any health guarantees, and are therefore unfit for consumption," reported Le Parisien.

Police claim the meat came from the Central African Republic. The manager of the establishment will have to explain herself in court “in the near future,” said investigators.

“Without knowing the specific species concerned of porcupine, gazelle or bat it is difficult to say whether or not they would be granted an import licence,” said Mark Powell, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

“But it is highly possible they would be from animals on the endangered species list, therefore it would be illegal to import or sell them.”

The news comes in the same week as a statement from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species which states illegal ivory trade could wipe out a fifth of Africa’s elephants by 2023.