Dynamics and underlying causes of illegal bushmeat trade in Zimbabwe

Abstract

P . A . L i n d s e y , S . S . R O M A Ñ A C H , S . M a t e m a , C . M a t e m a , I . M u p a m h a d z i and J . M u v e n g w iAbstract The prevalence and impacts of the illegal trade in bushmeat are under appreciated in Southern Africa, despite indications that it constitutes a serious conservation threat in parts of the region. Bushmeat trade has emerged as a severe threat to wildlife conservation and the viability of wildlife-based land uses in Zimbabwe during a period of political instability and severe economic decline. We conducted a study around Savé Valley Conservancy in the South-East Lowveld of Zimbabwe to investigate the dynamics and underlying causes of the bushmeat trade, with the objective of developing solutions. We found that bushmeat hunting is conducted mainly by unemployed young men to generate cash income, used mostly to purchase food. Bushmeat is mainly sold to people with cash incomes in adjacent communal lands and population centres and is popular by virtue of its affordability and availability. Key drivers of the bushmeat trade in the South-East Lowveld include: poverty, unemployment and food shortages, settlement of wildlife areas by impoverished communities that provided open access to wildlife resources, failure to provide stakes for communities in wildlife-based land uses, absence of affordable protein sources other than illegally sourced bushmeat, inadequate investment in anti-poaching in areas remaining under wildlife management, and weak penal systems that do not provide sufficient deterrents to illegal bushmeat hunters. Each of these underlying causes needs to be addressed for the bushmeat trade to be tackled effectively. However, in the absence of political and economic stability, controlling illegal bushmeat hunting will remain extremely difficult and the future of wildlife-based land uses will remain bleak.

The bushmeat trade in African savannas: Impacts, drivers, and possible solutions

“…Where hunting grounds are distant from hunters' homes, meat carriers are employed (Brown, 2007). In many cases, bushmeat hunters are poor, unemployed, with little education and few livestock (Loibooki et al, 2002;Knapp 2007;Lindsey et al, 2011b). Bushmeat hunting can be lucrative, however, and in Tanzania, hunters are wealthier than non-hunters (Knapp, 2007).…”

“…Hunting is an almost exclusively male activity, though women often butcher meat (Brown, 2007;Lindsey et al, 2011b). Where hunting grounds are distant from hunters' homes, meat carriers are employed (Brown, 2007).…”

Trends in Illegal Killing of African Elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Luangwa and Zambezi Ecosystems of Zambia

“…African elephants are illegally killed for ivory and bushmeat in increasingly unsustainable numbers (Bennett et al, 2007;Lindsey et al, 2013;Maiselset al, 2013;Nellemann, Formo, Blanc, Skinner, Milliken, & De Meulenaer, 2013;Wittemyer, Daballen, & Douglas-Hamilton, 2013). Though wildlife poaching results in modest returns for entire communities, such illegal activity is often attractive to individuals because of the high associated private returns and limited benefits from legal wildlife based land uses (Lindsey et al, 2011;Lindsey et al, 2013;Rentsch & Damon, 2013). Furthermore, elephants often impose significant costs to communities via damage to crops (Lamarque et al, 2009).…”

Bushmeat harvest in tropical forests: Knowledge base, gaps and research priorities

“…Resettled communities in Zimbabwe prevented anti-poaching scouts from accessing occupied land, enabling illegal hunters to operate freely (Lindsey et al 2011). In northwestern Tanzania, bushmeat is sometimes the only available source of protein for refugees; it also offers a much-needed source of income, leading to intense hunting near the encampments (Jambiya et al 2007).…”

“…At times they might include only a hunter and his neighbors, but they may also stretch through many rural hunters to traders along the major transportation routes, to roadside restaurants or to market-stall owners, and finally to urban consumers (Bowen-Jones et al 2003). In Zimbabwe, bushmeat hunting is conducted mainly by unemployed young men to generate cash income, which is then used to purchase other food supplies (Lindsey et al 2011). In Gabon, bushmeat was hunted less by the poorest families, but after a certain threshold was reached, income and offtake were not correlated (Coad et al 2010), and most of the income difference was spent on luxury items such as alcohol and cigarettes.…”