Watching the World Exotic Meats for Sale In spite of international laws that outlaw its trade and its use as food in Europe, bat meat is being sold illegally in British shops and restaurants. “ It is a real worry that protected bat species are being killed and imported undetected, not to mention the danger to public health of eating uninspected meat, ” notes Richard Barnwell, of the World Wide Fund for Nature. In parts of Africa, fruit bats have long been an important food source, and in Malaysia and Indonesia, the number of some of the rarest species of fruit bats has declined dramatically because of the trade in their meat.