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The common guinea pig was first domesticated c. 2000
BC for food by the Inca, in the Andean region of South America in what is now Perú and Bolivia. They continue
to be a food source in the region, subsisting off a family's vegetable scraps as a half pet/half future meal. Guinea pigs
are called cuy (pl. cuyes) in Perú and considered a culinary delicacy, prepared usually by roasting.
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As food, the guinea pig is described as
a combination of rabbit and the dark meat on chicken. It is high in protein (20.3%) and low in fat (7.8%). Due to the fact it requires much less room than traditional
livestock and reproduce extremely quickly when compared to traditional stock animals, it can be raised as a source of food
in an urban environment—something which most western livestock cannot do.
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To this day, cavies continue to be a major part of the diet in Perú and Bolivia particularly in the Andes Mountains highlands, where they are an important source
of protein and a mainstay of Andean folk medicine. Peruvians consume an estimated 65 million Guinea pigs each year.
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All the rights registered - 2005
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