The COVID-19 outbreak has had considerable negative impacts on the livelihoods and living conditions of communities around the world. Although the source of COVID-19 is still unknown, a widely spread hypothesis is that the virus could be of animal origin. Wild meat is used by rural communities as a source of income and food, and it has been hypothesised that the pandemic might alter their perceptions and use of wild meat. McNamara et al. (2020) developed a causal model hypothesising how the impacts of the pandemic could lead to a change in local incentives for wild meat hunting in sub-Saharan African countries. From February 27 to March 19, 2021, we carried out a survey around the Dja Faunal Reserve, Southeast Cameroon, to test McNamara et al.’s model in practice, using semi-structured questionnaires to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on wild meat hunting and consumption. Our results generally agree with the causal pathways suggested by McNamara et al. However, our study highlights additional impact pathways not identified in the model. We provide revisions to McNamara’s model to incorporate these pathways and inform strategies to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic.
Tag: game meat
Contemporary wild meat hunting, consumption, and trade in Africa
Profiling the types of restaurants that sell wild meat in Central African cities
Central African cities are major centres of demand for wild meat, even when affordable alternative proteins are widely available. Many people eat wild meat in restaurants; therefore, restaurateurs are well placed to provide insights into the wild meat trade and consumer preferences. We surveyed 326 restaurants in Brazzaville and Kinshasa, the adjoining capital cities of the Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo, to determine which types of restaurants sell wild meat, how sales of wild meat dishes compared with those containing other proteins, and the importance of wild meat to these businesses. The majority of wild meat-selling restaurants are informal establishments owned by women. Although most only sell wild meat dishes weekly, we estimate that nearly 10,000 wild meat dishes are consumed daily in restaurants across Brazzaville and Kinshasa. Its wide availability reinforces the social norm around eating wild meat, yet few restaurateurs considered wild meat to be central to the viability of their business. It is important to distinguish between restaurants reliant on wild meat sales and those that offer it to diversify their menus. Forging partnerships with restaurateurs offer untapped potential to develop mutually beneficial allegiances to further wild meat demand reduction efforts.
Wild meat hunting levels and trade in a West African protected area in Togo
We assessed numbers and biomass of species hunted and sold for wild meat in 12 park-adjacent settlements in the Fazao Malfakassa National Park (FMNP), Togo. From hunter interviews and market carcass counts, 33 species, 28 from hunter interviews and 26 from market surveys were taken, respectively. A total of 2605 animals were recorded in the study, 18 species during the wet season (740 animals) and 26 species in the dry season (1865 animals). In markets, 754 carcasses of 19 species were traded during the wet season, and 1896 carcasses of 24 species in the dry season. Most species were relatively small-bodied mammals (62% of total numbers of animals reported), the rest large ungulates. Species were generally of minor conservation concern (LC or NT) with only three EN and NE. From the gathered field data, we estimated that an average of 9095 ± 5613 animals per study village were hunted per year, amounting to a biomass of 198,334 ± 191,930 kg. Despite efforts to protect the wildlife within the FMNP, reported level of hunting, particularly of large ungulates within the park, the reported level of hunting is likely to have severe consequences on the long-term viability of this important protected area.
WILDMEAT interventions database: A new database of interventions addressing unsustainable wild meat hunting, consumption and trade
The urgent need to manage wild meat for the sake of both local livelihoods and wild ecosystems means that many and varied interventions have been implemented with the aim of increasing the sustainability of wild meat use. Management responsibility for these interventions can rest with different actors, from central governments (which often contract nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) to support their resource management) to private sector concessionaries (e.g. timber companies), or devolved directly to wildlife-hunting communities. Although management goals may be similar—sustainable wildlife populations and local livelihood security—the range of interventions selected, the resources invested and the expertise available differ vastly.
Combining offtake and participatory data to assess the sustainability of a hunting system in northern Congo
Research suggests that bushmeat is hunted at unsustainable rates throughout much of the Congo basin, although accurately measuring hunting sustainability is challenging. Offtake data can contribute towards sustainability assessments, and when incorporated with information on hunters’ strategies, can be used to monitor changes in hunting dynamics. We used a combination of (1) a long-term, quantitative yet low-resolution hunting offtake data set, (2) qualitative data acquired through participatory methods, and (3) a high-resolution offtake survey, to examine the changes in a hunting system undergoing change due to new roads and associated socio-economic developments in northern Republic of the Congo. Our results indicated that while the conclusions drawn from the different data sets were broadly the same (indicating wildlife depletion, particularly in one hunting zone), the results of the analysis of the participatory and the high-resolution offtake data set provided an explanation for trends in the long-term low-resolution offtake data set, including the degree to which long-term trends are due to changes in hunting strategy, or in underlying wildlife populations. We discuss how participatory hunter surveys can be used to distinguish between changes in prey populations and changes in hunting strategy in long-term low-resolution hunting offtake data sets, therefore, improving the effectiveness of long-term offtake data sets to assess sustainability of hunting.
Of meat and ritual: Consumptive and religious uses of pangolins in Mali
While a few studies have now investigated the local uses of pangolins in several West African countries, knowledge on the distribution and local uses of pangolins remains limited in the western-most countries (e.g. Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Sierra Leone), at the periphery of currently reported pangolin distributions. Current pangolin species ranges are delineated on the IUCN Red List by whether the species is known (or thought very likely) to occur in a given area with suitable habitat. Mali borders several pangolin range countries and is currently not listed as a pangolin range state on the IUCN Red List. Here, we review and appraise the evidence for the presence and local uses of pangolins in Mali.
Impact of COVID-19 on wild meat trade in Nigerian markets
Wild meat plays a crucial role in the food security and cash income of subsistence hunters in the tropics and subtropics in Africa, South America, and SE Asia (Coad et al., 2019; Fa et al., 2022). This meat is regularly traded in markets in many towns and cities (see Fa et al., 2019). In Nigeria, the amount of meat sold from most species crashed dramatically after the Ebola virus outbreak in 2014, highlighting the awareness of the general public of a link between disease risk and wild meat (Akani et al., 2015; Funk et al., 2021). The opportunities for zoonotic spill-over have increased in parallel with the increase of the intensity and extent of bushmeat trade over the last decades (Karesh & Noble, 2009). The report by UNEP, International Livestock Research Institute (2020) on preventing the next pandemic lists increasing human demand for animal protein among seven human-mediated factors as the most likely driving the emergence of zoonotic diseases, which includes wild meat hunting.
How Do Local Folks Value Wild Meat, and Why It Matters? A Study in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
We elucidate the value orientations (VOs) towards wild meat/wildlife in the Tshopo Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, distinguishing between the provincial capital and rural areas. Based on stories prompted by four primary emotions, the most frequently encountered VOs were: concern for safety, nutrition and taste, and caring/respect. Rural people were more likely to express anthropocentric VOs. However, their stories did not necessarily associate negatively with caring/respect, suggesting that wildlife users may also be sensitive to biocentric values. Age, gender, and wealth were good predictors for biocentric VOs, with young women from the city more likely to express biocentric values. VOs and emotions related differently to specific wildlife species. Mutualism was not frequently elucidated in the stories. The associations we found provide crucial information to understand differences in value orientations across groups, identify barriers to change, and tailor behavior change campaigns to the local context.
Impacts of Taking, Trade and Consumption of Terrestrial Migratory Species for Wild Meat
This report – the first of its kind – identifies the impacts of wild meat taking, trade and consumption of terrestrial species that are protected by CMS. It puts a spotlight on species such as antelopes, primates, and carnivores and points to the need for greater attention to the taking of globally protected wildlife purely for domestic use as opposed to international trade. The study also highlights the need to assess national legislation and enforcement capacity, as well as the linkages between zoonotic diseases and wild meat.
Prepared for the CMS Secretariat by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), this publication is a significant first step towards closing the knowledge gap on the impacts of such use of migratory species of wild animals.
The aim of this report is to contribute to the implementation of CMS Decision 13.109 – Addressing Unsustainable Use of Terrestrial and Avian Wild Meat of Migratory Species of Wild Animals – by assessing, the direct and indirect impacts of wild meat taking, trade and consumption for each of the CMS terrestrial mammal species covered by CMS Appendices I and / or II, as well as the following species: Gazella bennettii, Pantholops hodgsonii, and Procapra picticaudata (all under CMS Central Asian Mammals Initiative); and Myotis aurascens, Otonycteris hemprichii, Plecotus kolombatovici, Plecotus macrobullaris, Plecotus sardus, Rousettus aegyptiacus, and Taphozous nudiventris (all listed under the Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats (EUROBATS)).