Two Men Arrested in Tamil Nadu for Catching Fruit Bats and Selling as Chicken

Salem, Tamil Nadu – Forest officials in Salem district arrested two men, Kamal and Selvam, after discovering that they had been poaching fruit bats in a protected forest and cooking the meat for sale as chilli chicken. The duo operated near Danishpettai in the Omalur region within the Thoppur Ramasamy forest range. Officers responded after hearing multiple gunshots in the area, and a patrol led by Forest Ranger Vimal Kumar confirmed the illegal activity when they found the men preparing and selling bat meat disguised as chicken. The incident occurred on July 28, 2025.

The men allegedly sold the cooked bat meat to restaurants and fast‑food outlets under the false label of popular chicken dishes. Authorities noted that similar food fraud cases have previously involved mislabelled meat from other animals. Investigations into the extent of the operation are ongoing.

Public health officials have raised concerns due to the risks associated with consuming bat meat. Fruit bats are reservoirs of zoonotic viruses including Nipah, Hendra, Ebola (suspected), Marburg and lyssaviruses related to rabies. Transmission may occur through direct contact with body fluids, handles, droppings or ingestion of undercooked meat.

The incident also poses conservation concerns. Fruit bats, classified under the family Pteropodidae, play vital roles in pollination and seed dispersal and are often threatened by habitat loss and hunting. Hunting and consumption of bat species can disrupt ecological balance and reduce biodiversity.

Authorities have noted past instances where vendors passed off rat, cat or dog meat as chicken. One notable case in July 2024 involved a meat shipment intercepted at Bengaluru railway station. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) initially investigated the possibility of dog meat being included. Laboratory analysis later confirmed that the meat was from sheep, not dogs or poultry.

Scientific background on zoonotic disease risks

Bat bushmeat is considered a high-risk source of zoonotic transmission. Bats harbor more zoonotic viruses per species than most mammals and have been implicated in the emergence of diseases such as Ebola, Marburg, Nipah and certain coronaviruses. ^[1]

Disease spillover can occur during hunting, butchering or cooking of bat meat. Hunters and processors may sustain bites, scratches or blood exposure, and consumers may ingest pathogens if meat is undercooked. ^[2]

Estimates suggest that roughly 60–75 percent of emerging infectious diseases originate in animals, most from wildlife. Interface settings such as informal markets or unregulated food chains increase transmission risk. ^[3,4]

Public health interventions emphasize behavior-based risk mitigation. Education on safe practices, enforcement of wildlife protection laws and reduction of bushmeat demand are critical to lower zoonotic transmission potential. ^[5]

References

1. Han, Hyun Jung, Hyeong-Woo Yu, Han Bit Kim, Hye Jin Park, Jong-Min Hwang, and Myung Guk Han. “Bats as Reservoirs of Severe Emerging Infectious Diseases.” Frontiers in Microbiology 6 (2015): 1–15. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7132474/

2. Milbank, Craig P., Dzingirai, V., Scoones, I., and Leach, M. “Wildlife Trade and Zoonotic Disease Emergence: Contextualizing Risk through a Political Ecology Lens.” The Lancet Planetary Health 6, no. 4 (2022): e293–e300. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S254251962200064X

3. Simons, Robin R. L., Emma J. Templeton, and Emma M. F. Dale. “Potential for Introduction of Bat-Borne Zoonotic Viruses into Human Populations.” Emerging Infectious Diseases 20, no. 4 (2014): 738–741. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4036546/

4. Salyer, Stephanie J., Rebecca Silver, and Casey Simone. “Prioritizing Zoonoses for Global Health Capacity Building—Themes from One Health Zoonotic Disease Workshops in 7 Countries, 2014–2016.” PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 11, no. 6 (2017): e0005721. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5711306/

5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “About Zoonotic Diseases | One Health.” Last reviewed October 17, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/about/about-zoonotic-diseases.html

(Rh/Eth/MSM/SE)