British shop backs squirrel meat

A British supermarket defended selling squirrel meat yesterday as a “sustainable” form of food, amid protests by animal activists who accused him of cashing in on a “wildlife massacre”.
“In a few years’ time, it’s going to become like rabbit,” said Andrew Thornton, who introduced squirrel meat into his branch of the Budgens supermarket in north London this year.
“Squirrel is a very sustainable form of meat,” he told AFP, explaining that while it takes 15 tons of grain to produce one ton of beef, “squirrels feed from nature – there are too many of them around.”
Squirrel meat was once a common feature of the British diet and in recent years has returned, being sold by speciality game dealers and restaurants and endorsed by celebrity chefs, who have cooked up recipes for squirrel ragout and squirrel offal skewers.
It is increasingly seen as acceptable to eat grey squirrels, whose population has exploded since being introduced here in the 19th century.
Some groups now advocate culling grey squirrels to protect the domestic red squirrel, which is now a protected species.