Title
Illegal Hunting and the Bush-Meat Trade in Savanna Africa: Drivers, Impacts and Solutions to Address the Problem
Author(s)
Lindsey, P., ;Balme, G., ;Becker, M., ;Begg, C., ;Bento, C., ;Bocchino, C., ;Dickman, A., ;Diggle, R., ;Eves, H., ;Henschel, P., ;Lewis, D.;, ;Marnewick, K.,;Mattheus, J., ;Mcnutt, J.W., ;Mcrobb, R., ;Midlane, N., ;Milanzi, J., ;Morley, R.,;Murphree, M., ;Nyoni, P., ;Opyene, V., ;Phadima, J., ;Purchase, N.;, ;Rentsch, D., ;Roche, C., ;Shaw, J., ;van der Westhuizen, H., ;van Vliet, N., ;Zisadza, P.
Published
2015
Abstract
In this report, the term ‘bushmeat’ is used to denote meat from wild animals that have been hunted illegally, which aside from being used for personal consumption, is often sold commercially. The bushmeat trade has long been recognized as a severe threat to wildlife populations in the forests of West and Central Africa and is considered a conservation crisis in that biome. Far less attention has been focused on the issue in African savannas, perhaps due to a misconception that illegal hunting for bushmeat in the biome is primarily for subsistence and is largely sustainable. However, there is a growing body of research conducted in the Serengeti ecosystem in Tanzania, and from sporadic studies elsewhere that contradict that perception. This report summarizes a workshop on illegal hunting and the bushmeat trade in the savanna biome organised and sponsored by Panthera, the Zoological Society of London and Wildlife Conservation Society. Growing concern over the impacts of illegal hunting and the bushmeat trade, particularly on large carnivores populations in Southern and East Africa, motivated the workshop. Large carnivores are particularly sensitive to the impacts of illegal hunting and the bushmeat trade and can act as a barometer of the severity of the problem, and also act as a basis from which to catalyze conservation action. Key experts gathered at the workshop to identify the drivers of illegal hunting and the bushmeat trade and the interventions necessary to address the issue. Hunting of wildlife is regulated in most African countries through wildlife legislation and permitting systems which specify restrictions on the times and places that hunting is permitted, the species that may be hunted and the hunting methods that may be used. The large majority of hunting for bushmeat contravenes one or more such restrictions. Snaring is the most common illegal hunting method and is particularly undesirable from a conservation perspective as it is highly effective, difficult to control, unselective in terms of the genders or species of animals captured, wasteful, and has severe animal welfare implications due to the manner of capture and confinement, and frequent incidents of severe, non-lethal wounding of wildlife. Other common bushmeat hunting methods include the use of rifles, muzzle-loaders, shotguns, dogs, fire, and in some cases, gin traps, pitfall traps and poison.
Keywords
bush meat; Africa

Access Full Text


Back

DMX4082600000