The Wombat File Is Yours to Keep

I'm setting today's quiz up yesterday, if you follow me, then I hope to release it tomorrow, which is to say today, after today is safely in the hands of yesterday. So if you experience any temporal dislocations while participating in today's quiz, please consult your TARDIS user's manual.

King Henry the I of England died from food poisoning after eating a "surfeit" of these creatures. They spread to the midwestern U.S. after infrastructure improvements were made in Canada in 1829, although it took nearly a century for them to show up in the areas which they now thickly populate. In a 1996 effort, in fact, to better utilize a few of these creatures trapped in population control efforts, experimental shipments of trapped animals were sent to Portugal and Spain, where they are considered a delicacy. Of the temperate climates, only Africa is not known to have any.

What is this (to some) delicious animal?

First correct answer posted to comments wins a rare copy of my treatise on the superiority of the half-sour to the dill, with illustrations and a complimentary napkin. No Googling or reverse-engineering Google's search engine technology, raising a ton of venture capital, buying a feedlot full of used servers and so forth. One guess per comment, but comment as often as you like.