| “ | I ate someone with a tattoo once. Once. The ink made the meat taste like shit. | „ |
| ~ Jeffrey Dahmer, an infamous cannibal and serial killer. |
Cannibalism is the practice of someone or something eating the same species as itself. Humans have practiced cannibalism for thousands of years, and in some ancient societies, it was considered perfectly acceptable, much like human sacrifice. However, during modern times, cannibalism has become more associated with mental disorder and is considered violent, barbaric, and depraved by most of society today.
Several noted serial killers have practiced cannibalism.
Known cannibals
- Jeffrey Dahmer
- Albert Fish
- Jack the Ripper
- Nathaniel Bar-Jonah
- Joseph Roy Metheny
- Armin Meiwes
- Idi Amin
- Arthur Shawcross
- Jean-Bédel Bokassa
- Ottis Toole
- Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
- Hadden Clark
- Joachim Kroll
- Fritz Haarmann
- Luka Magnotta
- Issei Sagawa
- Edmund Kemper
- Boone Helm
- Andrei Chikatilo
- Dorángel Vargas
- Richard Trenton Chase
Other incidents of cannibalism
- There have been reports of Japanese soldiers eating the organs of Chinese soldiers and prisoners of war during the Rape of Nanking.
- During the last few years of the Second Congo War, Mbuti pygmies were hunted down and eaten by both sides in the conflict, who regarded them as subhuman. Sinafasi Makelo, a representative of Mbuti pygmies, appealed to the United Nations Security Council to recognize cannibalism as both a crime against humanity and an act of genocide.