Wild meat trade over the last 45 years in the Peruvian Amazon

Abstract

The trade in wild meat is an important economic component of rural people's livelihoods, but it has been perceived to be among the main causes of the decline of wildlife species. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light an additional concern of wildlife markets as a major human-health challenge. We analyzed data from the largest longitudinal monitoring of the most important urban wild-meat markets in Iquitos, Peru, to examine the trends in and impacts of these markets on people's livelihoods. Over the last 45 years, wild meat sales increased at a rate of 6.4 t/year (SD 2.17), paralleling urban population growth. Wild meat sales were highest in 2018 (442 t), contributing US$2.6 million (0.76%) to the regional gross domestic product. Five species of ungulates and rodents accounted for 88.5% of the amount of biomass traded. Vulnerable and Endangered species represented 7.0% and 0.4% of individuals sold, respectively. Despite growth in sales, the contribution of wild meat to overall urban diet was constant: 1-2%/year of total meat consumed. This result was due to greater availability and higher consumption of cheaper meats (e.g., in 2018, poultry was 45.8% cheaper and was the most consumed meat) coupled with the lack of economic incentives to harvest wild meat species in rural areas. Most wild meat was sold salted or smoked, reducing the likelihood of foodborne diseases. Communitybased wildlife management plans and the continued trade bans on primates and threatened taxa may avoid biodiversity loss. Considering the recent COVID-19 pandemic, future management plans should include potential viral hosts and regulation and enforcement of hygiene practices in wild-meat markets.

Large-scale population disappearances and cycling in the white-lipped peccary, a tropical forest mammal

“…In contrast, in flooded forests the WLPs showed less-extreme oscillations of 7.7 ind./km 2 +- 3.4 (SD), but also disappeared between 2013 and 2017 following historically high and prolonged floods that began in 2011 and lasted through 2015. This regional disappearance following extreme flooding was reflected in meat sales in the Iquitos bush meat market, which provides a measure of WLP harvest from the Loreto Region, an area of 38-million ha that includes the Yavari landscape [ 45 ]. In 1996 there were 4,510 individuals sold, in 2006 3,170 were sold, and then a dramatic decrease was seen in 2013 when only 253 WLP were sold.…”

“…Habitat destruction and drought causes reduced food availability and large mammals become concentrated in smaller forest blocks, or around small ponds with greater resource competition, and where hunters have greater success [42]. In the tierra firme forests of western Amazonia studies have shown hunting is generally sustainable and does not cause population declines of WLP with no known cumulative impacts (18,(43)(44)(45). In regions that have cumulative impacts (flooded forests, Meso-America, Southern SA) the WLP populations have more severe disappearances and slower recoveries.…”

Comparing hunting practices of urban and rural inhabitants in Western Amazonia: the role of religion, wealth, and livelihoods

“…In the Central Brazilian Amazon, rural migrants continue to consume wild meat after moving to urban areas (Chaves et al, 2021). In Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, the increase in wild meat sales has kept pace with urban population growth from 1973 to 2018 (Mayor et al, 2022). Thus, urban demand may affect the stock of game species that can be accessed by the rural population, which is dependent on this resource (Morsello et al, 2015).…”

Landscape-scale concordance between local ecological knowledge for tropical wild species and remote sensing of land cover

“…Home range and habitat vary across individual species. Paca, collared peccary, white-lipped peccary, and brocket deer consist of nearly 90% of the total biomass sold in the markets of Iquitos in 1973–2018 ( 55 ). Lowland tapir, white-lipped peccary, woolly monkey, and spider monkey have been classified as vulnerable species according to International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).…”