Impacts of hunting on mammals in African tropical moist forests: a review and synthesis

Abstract

1. Available information on the consumption of wild meat in West and Central Africa is reviewed. We show that mammals are the prime source of bushmeat, and that ungulates and rodents make up the highest proportion of biomass extracted. 2.We present data on current knowledge of extraction patterns of wild mammals in West and Central Africa, and evidence that at current off-take levels, within the range states, mammals as bushmeat are being depleted on an unprecedented scale. Extraction rates are orders of magnitude higher there than in comparable ecosystems like the Amazon, and much less likely to be sustainable. 3. However, basic knowledge of the biology of harvestable tropical moist forest mammals, and the consequences of hunting on mammalian communities, which permits accurate estimation of maximal production rate (the excess of growth over replacement rate), is largely unavailable, and this hinders estimation of hunting quotas and sustainability. Comparisons are made with the existing information available on Amazon basin mammals and hunting patterns reported there.

Changes in the composition of hunting catches in southeastern Cameroon: a promising approach for collaborative wildlife management between ecologists and local hunters

“…2000, Fa et al 2005, van Vliet and Nasi 2008a, Fa and Brown 2009, Nasi et al 2011. At sites 1-3, where the hunting pressure was lower, medium-sized duikers weighing 15-20 kg accounted for 65%-78% of the total catches with snares.…”

“…Entangled vegetation of secondary regrowth after shifting cultivation or human habitation provides small blue duikers with refuges by reducing the range of predators. Consequently, a compensatory change (Wright 2003, Fa andBrown 2009) occurs between blue and medium-sized duikers.…”

“…In recent years, both depletion of wild animals and declining food supply have threatened the livelihoods of these people and rendered the bushmeat trade a national and global concern (Wilkie and Carpenter 1999, Robinson and Bennett 2000, Fa et al 2002, 2005, Bennett et al 2007, 2011, Fa and Brown 2009, Ichikawa 2014a. In southeastern Cameroon, logging began on a small scale during the 1970s and was stimulated by the devaluation of the CFA franc in 1994, which significantly reduced the cost of timber production for foreign companies.…”

Patterns and extent of threats to the protected areas of Bangladesh: the need for a relook at conservation strategies

“…Hunting wild animals for bush meat is prevalent in the tropical moist evergreen and semievergreen forests of hilly protected areas where some indigenous communities inhabit (Chowdhury et al, 2014). Wildlife is often an open access resource, and the cost of its production is often lower than the cost of raising livestock (Fa & Brown, 2009). Poaching of selected mammals for smuggling is prevalent in mangrove protected forests of the littoral zone, mainly the Sundarbans, where the Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) is the iconic species (Uddin et al, 2013) and subject to poaching because of the high demand for its skin and other body parts in international black markets.…”

Enseignements à tirer d’une étude des projets visant à promouvoir de nouveaux moyens de subsistance en Afrique centrale

“…Depuis des siècles, la viande de brousse est utilisée par des communautés africaines (Fa et Brown, 2009: Milner-Gulland et al, 2003, et, aujourd'hui, elle constitue la source principale de protéines animales ainsi qu'une source importante de revenus pour les habitants des forêts rurales (Wikie et Carpenter,1999) qui satisfont la demande croissante de viande de brousse exprimée par les populations urbaines en plein essor, qui considèrent souvent la viande de brousse comme un produit de luxe (Van Vliet et Mbazza, 2011) alors qu'ils tirent la partie majeure de leurs besoins en protéines de la viande des animaux élevés.…”