An Assessment of Wildlife Use by Northern Laos Nationals.

Elizabeth Oneita Davis,Jenny Anne Glikman

doi:10.3390/ani10040685

Elizabeth Oneita Davis, Jenny Anne Glikman

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10040685

Copy DOI

Abstract

Simple SummaryAlthough unsustainable wildlife consumption is a leading threat to biodiversity in Southeast Asia, there is still a notable lack of research around the issue, particularly into which animals may be “on the horizon” of impending conservation concern. Using semistructured interviews, we investigated the consumption of wildlife in northern Laos, with a focus on the use of wildlife for medicinal purposes. Bear bile was the most popular product, but serow bile was second in popularity and used for similar ailments. In light of these results, and considering the vulnerability of both bear and serow populations in the wild, greater concern needs to be taken to reduce demand for these products, before this demand becomes a significant conservation challenge. Unsustainable wildlife trade is a well-publicized area of international concern in Laos. Historically rich in both ethnic and biological diversity, Laos has emerged in recent years as a nexus for cross-border trade in floral and faunal wildlife, including endangered and threatened species. However, there has been little sustained research into the scale and scope of consumption of wildlife by Laos nationals themselves. Here, we conducted 100 semistructured interviews to gain a snapshot of consumption of wildlife in northern Laos, where international and in some cases illegal wildlife trade is known to occur. We found that although bear bile for medicine was the most common product consumed, individuals also used a variety of other products, including animals considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN. The majority of animals we found consumed are classified as “Vulnerable” or “Least Threatened” by the IUCN; however, sufficient demand for a species can cause increased, rapid decline in the species’ population and significantly increase the challenge of conserving them. These results therefore illuminate where conservation priorities should shift towards, so that stable-yet-consumed species do not mirror the fate of highly trafficked animals.

Highlights

IntroductionUnsustainable wildlife trade is a pressing conservation concern across the world and in Southeast Asia, where accessibility to a rich array of wildlife facilitates widespread trade activity [1]
Unsustainable wildlife trade is a pressing conservation concern across the world and in Southeast Asia, where accessibility to a rich array of wildlife facilitates widespread trade activity [1].This use takes many forms, ranging from the “Asian songbird crisis,” where threatened songbird species are taken into captivity [2], to the well-publicized demand for rhino horn for medicine in Vietnam [3], to the consumption of bear bile for medicine in Cambodia [4], to many more examples of unsustainable demand and rapid decline
We show that the use of wildlife products continues apace in the Luang Prabang area, despite the efforts of the Laos government to address wildlife use according to repeated warnings from Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) [52]

Summary

Introduction

Unsustainable wildlife trade is a pressing conservation concern across the world and in Southeast Asia, where accessibility to a rich array of wildlife facilitates widespread trade activity [1] This use takes many forms, ranging from the “Asian songbird crisis,” where threatened songbird species are taken into captivity [2], to the well-publicized demand for rhino horn for medicine in Vietnam [3], to the consumption of bear bile for medicine in Cambodia [4], to many more examples of unsustainable demand and rapid decline. Despite increasing global attention on unsustainable wildlife trade, many species and regions continue to be neglected in research and policy [5] This is the case for many countries within Southeast Asia, perhaps due to adjacency to China and Vietnam, which are arguably the largest wildlife consumer markets [6,7] and the focus of much of the Animals 2020, 10, 685; doi:10.3390/ani10040685 www.mdpi.com/journal/animals. We focus on Laos, where wildlife trade is rampant across the Chinese border for the Chinese market [12,13,14] and a plethora of wildlife farms have been established to fulfill this demand [13,14], but where very little is known about the consumption habits of the country’s inhabitants

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion