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10:59 GMT, Wednesday, 14 May 2008 11:59 UK

In pictures: Bush meat lovers

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Ayub Iyass is a hunter in northern Nigeria. He has stalked the wooded hills around Akwanga in Nassarawa state for close to 30 years. Akwanga is well known for the quality of its bush meat - wild game.

Taking aim

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He hunts with an ancient flintlock musket. He and two friends go out looking for antelope, grasscutter (a type of rodent) and occasionally monkey. "Monkey tastes like dog," Ayub says.

Bullets

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Population growth and hunting have driven animals back deep into the forest. But neither Ayub nor bush meat eaters are concerned about the possibility of hunting animals to extinction.

Medicine

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The hunters prepare themselves by burning herbs mixed with shards of bone from their quarry. The hunters believe this masks their smell and allows them to creep up on prey.

Fresh kill

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They deliver their kill to a part of Akwanga market where women specialise in cooking bush meat. Its made into pepper soup, and is much more expensive than any other kind of meat.

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Sarah has been cooking bush meat for so long she has the title 'Mama Nama' from her customers, meaning mother of meat. A plate of her pepper soup costs $2.50 (£1.30).

Iguana

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She buys local hunters' kills, but also buys smoked meat from elsewhere in Nigeria. The portion of Iguana meat on the left comes from Maiduguri, near the border with Chad.

Meat

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Sarah has bought a warthog which she has boiled. The meat is then smoked for three days to preserve it. Customers can buy portions to cook at home or ready made soups to eat while drinking palm wine.

Plate

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"People like it because it has less fat than commercial meat," says Sarah. Patrick, a regular customer, says its worth the extra expense, "It costs more but I feel better about eating it."

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