Well, it turns out people are still smuggling bushmeat—you know, tropical wild game like MONKEYS and BATS—into the country through JFK, and guess what? It's still dangerous to eat! Because it can spread diseases! And even if they're not deadly right now, they might be soon! Because it's happened before, with bushmeat and AIDS! Everybody freak out! more ›

Do you enjoy the exotic taste of gorilla, chimpanzee, and bonobo? If so, you could be putting yourself at risk for simian foamy virus, and it would be just terrible if you suffered any negative consequences as a result of your appetite for endangered primates. Scientists have found strains of the virus in three different species of monkeys that were brought into New York to be eaten. Though they say it's related to H.I.V., it's "not known to cause disease." But the virus's long-term effects remain unknown, and diseases like "monkey pox, SARS, and HIV/AIDS (via human infection with simian immunodeficiency virus) have all impacted public health through the consumption or trade of wild animals," which is otherwise known as bushmeat. more ›

A federal judge sentenced a Staten Island mother of eight to probation for smuggling monkey meat into the country. more ›

A few years ago, Staten Island resident Mamie Manneh was arrested for smuggling "smoked bushmeat"—skulls, limbs and torsos of "green monkeys and hamadryas baboons" (packed in a box marked "African dresses and smoked fish")—into the U.S. Her lawyers went to the First Amendment, explaining that Manneh's religious beliefs required to eat the contraband goods, with one lawyer telling the judge in 2007, it was "something like a seder ... you know, bitter herbs and that might have some reference to the Exodus or something along those lines." This past week, a judge struck down that argument: According to the Staten Island Advance, federal judge Raymond J. Dearie said that "Manneh's faith didn't bar her from applying for the permits need to import exotic foodstuffs or explain why she misled border officials." Additionally, Manneh is currently serving jailtime for running over a woman she believed was sleeping with her husband. more ›