>Dear List,
>
>I just came across this in rec.hunting.  It's worth a look, if only for
>entertainment value.  Want some Zebra meat?
>
>PAT
>>

Wild game is very expensive.  I'd like to suggest a reasonably healthy
modern alternative.

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/ lists various livestock breeds and gives
some history of their origins.  Karakul sheep, for example, are bred in the
US and Canada - their ancestry dates back to 1400BC and they are a hardy
breed, able to raise lambs on a diet of forage.  Their meat is distintively
different from modern sheep, lean and (IMO) much better tasting.  Romanov,
Icelandic, Shetland and Finn sheep are similar - short-tailed European
breeds directly related to the wild Mouflon, which are considered to be
genetically "pure".  Again, they produce naturally lean meat on a diet to
which modern breeds are not suited.  Old breeds of cattle (eg those
descended from the ancient Celtic Black such as Dexter and Black Welsh)
produce naturally marbled meat on a forage diet.  Tamworth pigs are another
example of an old breed directly descended from European wild boars -
capable foragers which produce leaner pork.

The website provides various breeders' associations, from which you can
track down  breeders who raise their animals in a manner consistent with the
principles of paleolithic diet.  Many will sell whole or half animals at
auction price + butchering costs, and some sell cuts of meat.

This might sound like a lot of trouble to ensure an affordable supply of
good meat but come on, folks - you're supposed to be hunter-gatherers!

Chris

(I'm a farmer who raises old-breed free-range chicken and Dexter cattle for
myself and a few family members/friends.  I also raise Romanov sheep
commercially but don't ship, export or sell meat at the farm gate:  this is
NOT an ad. )