Skip to main content
WCS
Menu
Library
Library Catalog
eJournals & eBooks
WCS Research
Archives
Research Use
Finding Aids
Digital Collections
WCS History
WCS Research
Research Publications
Science Data
Services for WCS Researchers
Archives Shop
Bronx Zoo
Department of Tropical Research
Browse By Product
About Us
FAQs
Intern or Volunteer
Staff
Donate
Search WCS.org
Search
search
Popular Search Terms
WCS History
Library and Archives
Library and Archives Menu
Library
Archives
WCS Research
Archives Shop
About Us
Donate
en
fr
Title
The effects of the Rwandan civil war on poaching of ungulates in the Pare National des Volcans
Author(s)
Plumptre A.J., Bizumuremyi J.-B., Uwimana F., Ndaruhebeye J.-D.
Published
1997
Publisher
ORYX
Abstract
One of the greatest threats that the mountain gorilla Gorilla gorilla beringei faces is the repeated setting of snares for ungulates by people living adjacent to the Pare National des Volcans in Rwanda. Two vets (one expatriate and one Rwandan) are permanently employed to monitor the health of habituated groups of mountain gorillas and to remove snares if an animal becomes caught in one. This study examined how snaring has changed as a result of the Rwandan civil war and how ungulates in the park have been affected. In the region around the Karisoke Research Station ungulate numbers have remained stable and in the case of the black-fronted duiker Cephalophus nigrifrons they have increased at higher altitudes. However, a questionnaire survey among local people showed that there has been a perceived decrease in crop raiding by all ungulates in the west of the park, suggesting a decline in numbers. In the east of the park there appears to have been a decrease in the numbers of black-fronted duikers but an increase in the number of buffaloes Syncerus caffer. The price of bushmeat in real terms has decreased since the war, despite the increase in the price of domestic meat, and poachers interviewed were selling bushmeat more frequently than they did before the war. The level of poaching, therefore, appears to have increased since the war. © 1997 FFI.
Keywords
black-fronted duiker; buffalo; civil war; conservation; mountain gorilla; poaching; ungulate; Rwanda, Parc National des Volcans; Cephalophus nigrifrons; Gorilla gorilla beringei; Syncerus caffer
Access Full Text
A full-text copy of this article may be available. Please email the
WCS Library
to request.
Back
PUB12907