(James Warwick/Getty Images)
- South Africans hunt zebras mainly for their fur and most of their meat is exported to horse-eating countries, according to a study.
- When 20 stallions were slaughtered in the Western Cape, scientists reported a good yield of nutritious, lean meat and abundant offal.
- Zebras are a valuable source of protein that can boost food security, especially in rural areas.
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Nine out of 10 South Africans eat meat, so there’s a good chance they enjoyed a braai on holiday. But there is very little chance that they ate zebra.
However, that may soon change, because new evidence from animal scientists at the University of Stellenbosch shows that zebras are an ideal species for meat production.
Zebras produce some of the leanest meat in the world, averaging 0.5g of fat per 100g and high levels of protein, zinc, iron, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids.
The new findings come as the government puts the finishing touches on SA’s new game meat strategy, which aims to formalize, transform and expand an industry dominated by impala, springbok, kudu, wildebeest and blesbok.
A zebra’s meat and offal yield compares favorably with many game, equine and livestock species, according to an analysis of 20 carcasses published last month in the journal Animals.
“The considerable contribution of edible by-products and high muscle performance indicate that the plains zebra can potentially be used as a valuable source of protein, thus contributing to food security, especially in rural SA,” he says.
The thinness and high nutritional value of horse meat make it popular in several European countries, and most of the zebra meat harvested in SA is exported. Locally, hunters target zebras primarily for their fur.
When student Angelique Myburgh realized that little research had been done on zebras as a food source, she began her study with the help of Professor Helet Lambrechts and the then head of Stellenbosch’s animal sciences department, Louw Hoffman.
Eight zebra stallions were killed by a hunter with headshots in the winter of 2017 on a farm near Bredasdorp in the Western Cape, and another 12 were culled in January 2018 at the Quagga Project in Elandsberg Nature Reserve near Riebeeck Kasteel.
The valuable hide was removed, followed by the head, hooves and offal, then the carcasses were quartered and seven muscles were removed and weighed. They included loin, top, silverside, round eye and fillet.
The animal with the highest yield produced 24.15 kg of meat and the average was 18.5 kg. Edible offal, including gastrointestinal tract, liver, heart, lung, kidney and spleen, amounted to about 110 kg on average, with a maximum of 136 kg.
Offal is a low-cost, nutrient-dense protein, Myburgh says, and part of the traditional diet of most South Africans, meaning the zebras’ contribution has the potential to improve food security, especially in rural areas. rural zones.
Animals harvested in winter produced more protein, and Myburgh says this is likely due to seasonal differences in diet and foraging behavior. “The differences found between the two groups are likely due to the effect of harvest season on subcutaneous fat deposition and, as a result, body composition,” she says.
Zebras have other factors going for them besides a good yield of healthy meat, Myburgh says. “They are physiologically and behaviorally adapted to survive in semi-arid conditions with low-quality forage. They are a good candidate for mixed-species husbandry and can be kept at higher stocking densities than ruminants of similar size on pastures of low nutritional quality.”
Last July, the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment released a draft game strategy saying that zebras make up 4.4% of South Africa’s game population.
The game meat industry has considerable growth potential, the document says, especially in the domestic market due to the ban on exporting cloven-hoofed meat until SA is declared free of foot-and-mouth disease.
“The game meat industry is predominantly in the informal market, while about 10% of game meat enters the retail market,” the document says.
“The industry in general is very fragmented. The objective of this strategy will therefore be to create a formalized bushmeat industry. [and] achieve the economies of scale necessary for commercial enterprises based primarily on the production, collection, processing, distribution and marketing of game meat.
“The bushmeat industry has not been transformed to a great extent and there is a very low participation rate from people who were previously disadvantaged. In addition, there are large tracts of communal land suitable for lowland hunting. [This] provides an opportunity for community businesses to drive rural socioeconomic development.”
A KwaZulu-Natal butcher who stocks zebra meat lists prices on his website as R105/kg for goulash, R110 for steak and R190 for fillet.
