The US Fish and Wildlife Service is asking Americans to step up as conservationists and make a meal out of cat-sized rodents. The plea is part of the agency’s annual National Invasive Species Week (February 24-28), which highlights the numerous non-native animals wreaking havoc on local ecosystems across the country. Experts in this case are particularly focused on nutria—an herbivorous, semiaquatic mammal that looks like a cross between a giant rat and a beaver.
“Please consider the following slogan ‘Save a Swamp, Sauté a Nutria,’” the agency suggested in a Facebook post on Monday.
Nutria are native to South America, but were first brought to Louisiana in the 1930’s to help meet fur industry demands. By the early 1940’s, hurricane damage to nutria farms accidentally allowed the voracious and rapidly reproducing animals to escape into the wild, where females average two litters of pups per year. A single adult nutria can weigh as much as 20 lbs, and is capable of consuming its own weight in vegetation every day, year-round. Prior to concerted mitigation efforts, nutria were estimated to annually devour as much as 90,000 acres’ worth of coastal wetlands. The scope of their damage can affect everything from flood patterns, to agriculture, to public health. Thanks to decades of conservation campaigns (and $6-per-tail hunting season bounties), damage estimates dropped down to around 5,500 acres in 2024, but nutria continue to pose a problem if populations are left unchecked. Today, the rodents are also causing trouble along the Atlantic coast and in portions of California.
While rodents aren’t a staple on many US dinner plates, nutria can be prepared a number of different ways depending on one’s preference. Unsure of how to properly prepare nutria for your next meal? The US Fish and Wildlife Service has two words for you: nutria gumbo.
“Their meat is lean, mild, and tastes like rabbit,” they write.
There are even entire cookbooks dedicated to nutria-based dishes. Nutria for Home Use, released in 1963, included recipes not only for gumbo, but “macaroni-nutria casserole” and “nutria chop suey.”
Like any wild game, however, it’s important to prepare the meat properly to avoid contamination. It’s also still necessary to check up on local hunting regulations to ensure you’re collecting them legally. But if the thought of “nutria-bacon rolls” doesn’t sound appetizing, National Invasive Species Week also highlights plenty of other options for the dedicated conservationist: the northern snakehead fish, invasive carp, feral hogs, and even green iguanas.
