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 sustainability of subsistence hunting in the neotropics
Author(s)
Alvard, M.S.; Robinson, J.G.; Redford, K.H.; Kaplan, H.
Published
1997
Publisher
Conservation Biology
Published Version DOI
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1997.96047.x
Abstract
Hunting is an important component of native subsistence strategies in Amazonia. It is also a serious threat to biodiversity in some areas. We present data on the faunal harvests of two native Neotropical subsistence hunting peoples, Machiguenga bow-hunters and Piro shotgun hunters of Peru. The rate of annual harvest per square kilometer of catchment is estimated and compared to rates of sustainable harvest calculated by Robinson and Redford (1991). We used indicators of prey abundance to test for the depletion of species that hunters killed in numbers greater than what the model predicts to be sustainable. As predicted, we found the strongest evidence for local depletion of the large primates at the Piro site. The woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagothricha) harvest at the Machiguenga village and the deer (Mazama americana) and collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu) harvests at both sites were not predicted to be unsustainable and we found no evidence for depletion. Machiguenga bow hunters killed spider monkeys (Ateles paniscus) in quantities that were slightly above what the model predicted to be sustainable, yet we found no evidence for depletion. Differential species vulnerability, catchment size, and consumer population size could be important factors in determining sustainability.
Keywords
collared peccary; hunting; hunting pressure; indigenous people; red brocket deer; spider monkey; subsistence hunting; sustainability; sustainable hunting; wildlife utilisation; woolly monkey; Peru; Araneae; Ateles paniscus; Ateles sp.; Cervidae; Lagothrix; Lagothrix lagotricha; Mazama americana; Paniscus; Pecari tajacu; Primates; Tayassu; PREY CHOICE; GAME
Access Full Text
A full-text copy of this article may be available. Please email the
WCS Library
to request.
Back
PUB12927