Eating Illegal Animals (by Accident)

Whoa! Looks like I’ve missed out on a lot of post and conversations. Will take this quarantine time to catch up. 🐉 🐉 🐉

This is such an interesting conundrum, Mike. I honestly don't know what the right answer is. I've never been a huge fan of the idea of a foreigner arriving in a destination and telling the locals that their traditions or way of life are wrong or harmful. As well-intended as you may be, there's a part of it that feels like you'd be overstepping. At the same time, as an animal lover myself, I've long been passionate about conservation, and my heart aches every time I hear about a species that has been wiped out due to human behavior. And I'd hate to see a species leave this planet forever due to over-hunting and over-consumption. It's a strange duality and I totally understand why you're so conflicted about it. It seems there's no clear-cut answer here that solves both problems in a satisfactory way. If the people eating these animals live on the island, it's possible that they're already aware that what they're doing is illegal, but they don't want to change or give up their traditions. If I arrived in a new location with the knowledge beforehand, I don't know what I would do. In that case, there are different ways to moralize it, depending on how you view the world. One person might say "well, the animal has already been killed and if I don't eat it, someone else here will." But another might say, "no, I don't want any part of this whatsoever because even if I take a tiny taste, I'm now a part of the problem." In your case, though, where you found out after the fact, there's really nothing you can do except use your new knowledge to inform your choices if you ever find yourself there again. You may have eaten something that indirectly contributes to a bad thing, but you didn't know at the time, so I'd say try not to beat yourself up over it too much. But overall, what a tough position to be in. It's like you're between a rock and a hard place. And I guess the choice each person makes would depend on which concept they value more: conservation or tradition. Which one is more important to you? 🐉🐉🐉🐉

Brandon Moore