Hunting and consumption of rodents is a multifaceted practice, including elements such as; trapping, killing and preparation of food for consumption. If different contexts, different types of behaviours are classified as hunting, and people's preferences for certain meats over others may be different. Hunting may be a prestigious activity carried out only by specific actors, or emerge from pragmatic attempts to avoid wastefulness, for example through opportunistic killings that take place within the context of other activities, such as clearing land for cultivation. Although the literature has documented that the consumption of larger rodents across western and central Africa is common, much less is known about the hunting of smaller species, such as those implicated in the spread of Lassa fever. The hunting of rodents may involve the use of other animals such as dogs, and preparing the meat for consumption often occurs with inadequate hygiene precautions.
