Guinea pig: a potential source of meat in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Although guinea pig is usually regarded as a labo­ratory or a pet animal, there is no reason why the animal cannot be reared for consumption. The meat is delicious and, in countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, it forms a normal part of peoples’ diets. In Peru for instance, some 17000 tonnes of guinea pig meat is consumed every year. For Papua New Guinea, we have come to a stage where we are now faced with the problem of dimin­ishing numbers of wild game animal species in our forests; and some species have or are about to be forced into extinction. As a result people in remote mountains areas are faced with malnutrition due to lack of protein in diet. Thus, farming guinea pigs in these areas is not only an attractive, but is probably one of the most appropriate options to choose. This paper is written with the aim of making available information on nutrition and management aspects of the animal.