Man uses for his meat diet almost all classes of animal life. However,
the principal classes of animals that supply the human race with meat
food are: cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry, and, in China and southern
Europe, the buffalo. In Northern China the camel and in Western China
the yak are also used to some extent for food. Such animals as birds
(other than poultry), rabbits, fish and other forms of water life,
while of importance, do not provide as large a supply of meat food as
do the domesticated animals mentioned above.