Legislative hurdles to using traditional domestic livestock in rewilding programmes in Europe

Rewilding is a restoration strategy that aims to return anthropogenic ecosystems to a "self-organized" state, by reinstating trophic complexity through disturbance (e.g. predation, herbivory), dispersal and connectivity. In depopulated areas of Europe, lite versions of rewilding, that maintain but minimize the management of rewilding species (e.g. predators, large herbivores) is gaining support. Livestock rewilding (LR) is a form of rewilding-lite, that uses livestock landraces as keystone species in the restoration of herbivory (the functional integrity of ecosystems) offering ecosystem services, such as ecotourism and the sale of livestock population surpluses, that can mitigate the economic and social effects of rural depopulation. Many challenges remain to implementing LR, including (i) more empirical evidence is required of the feasibility of LR across a variety of habitats and conditions, and (ii) understanding the hurdles that legislation poses for LR, the latter being the aim of this study. To accomplish this, we reviewed the EU legislation on environmental protection, animal health and welfare, identification and traceability, and ownership and civil responsibility, to assess how this might apply to LR. Although there is no specific EU legislation prohibiting LR, the review indicates that it is not clear what legislation applies to LR, as LR's status lies between that of livestock and wild species. As such the existing legislation can be a serious impediment to the development of LR programmes. We highlight the needs for a legal definition, and status of LR species and their ownership. We propose ways to adapt this legislation to support the application of LR programmes in abandoned areas of EU, for example, by using legal exceptions intended for livestock under extensive animal farming systems.

Industrial Halal hunted-game and feral animals' meat production

Hunted wild game meat (HGM) is growing in popularity and attracting a premium among consumers. This has led to the emergence of supply chains for industrially produced HGM in many countries. With the growing demand for Halal meat and the disposable income of its consumers around the globe, meat and game industries in countries rich in wild game and feral animals would be encouraged to consider supplying Halal hunted game meat (HHGM) to Halal consumers around the world. Meeting the Halal requirements for industrial HHGM is easy given the already existing supply chains for HGM in many producing countries. What is needed by the Game and Meat Industries in these countries to comply with the Halal requirements in terms of the hunted animal and the hunter, the hunt location, modes and methods, the handling and processing of hunted carcases and the hunted animal welfare and sustainability in the industrial production of HHGM, is the subject of this review.

Challenges of Sanitary Compliance Related to Trade in Products of Animal Origin in Southern Africa

Irrespective of the existence of potentially pathogenic organisms carried by animals, foods of animal origin remain the prime nutrition of humans world-wide. As such, food safety continues to be a global concern primarily to safeguard public health and to promote international trade. Application of integrated risk-based quality assurance procedures on-farm and at slaughterhouses plays a crucial role in controlling hazards associated with foods of animal origin. In the present paper we examine safety assurance systems and associated value chains for foods of animal origin based on historical audit results of some Southern African countries with thriving export trade in animal products, mainly to identify areas for improvement. Among the key deficiencies identified were: i) failure to keep pace with scientific advances related to the ever-changing food supply chain; ii) lack of effective national and regional intervention strategies to curtail pathogen transmission and evolution, notably the zoonotic Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli; and iii) a lack of effective methods to reduce contamination of foods of wildlife origin. The introduction of foods of wildlife origin for domestic consumption and export markets seriously compounds already existing conflicts in legislation governing food supply and safety. This analysis identifies gaps required to improve the safety of foods of wildlife origin.

Two sampling techniques for game meat

A study was conducted to compare the excision sampling technique used by the export market and the sampling technique preferred by European countries, namely the biotrace cattle and swine test. The measuring unit for the excision sampling was grams (g) and square centimetres (cm2) for the swabbing technique. The two techniques were compared after a pilot test was conducted on spiked approved beef carcasses (n = 12) that statistically proved the two measuring units correlated. The two sampling techniques were conducted on the same game carcasses (n = 13) and analyses performed for aerobic plate count (APC), Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, for both techniques. A more representative result was obtained by swabbing and no damage was caused to the carcass. Conversely, the excision technique yielded fewer organisms and caused minor damage to the carcass. The recovery ratio from the sampling technique improved 5.4 times for APC, 108.0 times for E. coli and 3.4 times for S. aureus over the results obtained from the excision technique. It was concluded that the sampling methods of excision and swabbing can be used to obtain bacterial profiles from both export and local carcasses and could be used to indicate whether game carcasses intended for the local market are possibly on par with game carcasses intended for the export market and therefore safe for human consumption.

The hygiene practices of three systems of game meat production in South Africa in terms of animal class and health compliance

Three game meat production systems used on game ranches in South Africa are reported on. System one is applied in the game export market and conforms to the hygiene requirements of the European Union (EU). System two and three entail game meat available on the local market not subjected to any regulation. System 2 however, implemented basic meat hygiene values. Measurements of pH, temperature, Aerobic Plate Count (APC), E. coli, Salmonella and S. aureus were subjected to a 3×2 factorial analysis of variance with factors that involve 3 system compliances in 2 classes of game animals in a completely randomised design. The measured bacteriological and quality differences between the three systems do not justify EU standards application on the local market but results indicated a significant compliance×class interaction.

Microbiological quality and potential public health risks of export meat from springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) in Namibia

To assess the microbiological quality and safety of export game meat; i) a total of 80 pooled meat samples for aerobic plate count (APC) and Enterobacteriaceae ii) water used in harvesting and processing for microbiological quality and iii) meat and rectal contents for Salmonella spp. and Shiga toxin Escherichia coli (STEC) were evaluated in 2009 and 2010. No differences (p>0.05) in the APCs were observed between the years, but the mean Enterobacteriaceae count for 2009 was 1.33 ± 0.69 log(10)cfu/cm(2) compared to 2.93 ± 1.50 log(10)cfu/cm(2) for 2010. Insignificant Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC) levels were detected in 9/23 field water samples, while fecal bacterial (coliforms, Clostridium perfringens and enterococci) were absent in all samples. No Salmonella spp. was isolated and all E. coli isolates from meat were negative for STEC virulence genes (stx1, stx2, eae and hlyA), suggesting a negligible role by springbok in the epidemiology of STEC and Salmonella.