Protein content in wild-harvested meat can exceed that of domestic livestock³, is low in saturated and trans fats⁴, and high in bioavailable micronutrients⁵ important for reducing malnutrition⁶. Animal-based foods are the most expensive component of food budgets, representing 40% of income for a healthy diet that can be augmented through wildlife harvests. In Namibia, for example, the contribution of wildlife harvests to gross domestic product was almost one-fifth that of livestock and crop agriculture⁷. During 2009, 3.5% (287,000 km²) of Namibia’s land area produced 16,000–25,000 metric tons of wildlife meat⁸. In the United States, about 6 million white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were harvested by recreational hunters in 2020⁹ and, assuming 23.7 kg of meat per deer, would represent about 142,000 metric tons of meat.

Benefits of wildlife harvests relative to domesticated animal foods include reduced land-use change, pollutant run-off and greenhouse gas emissions, although emissions can be similar in systems with equivalent biomass of domestic animals and wildlife¹⁰. However, primary sustainability challenges for wildlife often relate to overharvests that could adversely reduce populations. Although varied across countries, legal frameworks and policies are generally established to ensure sustainable wildlife harvests, but effectiveness varies and unsustainable harvests, particularly illegal harvests of wildlife, appear common¹¹.

野生收获的肉类中的蛋白质含量可以超过家畜的蛋白质³ ，饱和脂肪和反式脂肪含量低⁴ ，生物可利用的微量营养素⁵含量高，对于减少营养不良⁶很重要。动物性食品是食品预算中最昂贵的组成部分，占健康饮食收入的 40%，而健康饮食可以通过野生动物收获来增加。例如，在纳米比亚，野生动物收成对国内生产总值的贡献几乎是畜牧业和农作物农业的五分之一⁷ 。 2009年，纳米比亚3.5%（287,000平方公里^）的土地生产了16,000-25,000吨野生动物肉⁸ 。在美国，2020 年，休闲狩猎者捕获了约 600 万头白尾鹿 ( Odocoileus virginianus ) ⁹ ，假设每头鹿的肉量为 23.7 公斤，则相当于约 142,000 吨肉。

野生动物收获相对于家养动物食品的好处包括减少土地利用变化、污染物径流和温室气体排放，尽管在具有同等家畜和野生动物生物量的系统中排放量可能相似¹⁰ 。然而，野生动物面临的主要可持续性挑战往往与过度捕捞有关，过度捕捞可能会导致种群数量减少。尽管各国的法律框架和政策各不相同，但一般都建立了确保可持续野生动物收获的法律框架和政策，但有效性各不相同，不可持续的收获，特别是野生动物的非法收获似乎很常见¹¹ 。