Chimpanzee in Ethno-Primatological Practices and It Implications for Biodiversity Conservation: Kimbi-Fungom National Park and Kom-Wum Forest Reserve, Cameroon

Mvo Denis Chuo

doi:10.11648/j.ajaf.20170505.14

Abstract

Chimpanzees (<i>Pan troglodytes ellioti</i>) in ethno-primatological practices among the indigenous people and the implications for biodiversity conservation in the Kimbi-Fungom National Park (K-FNP) and Kom-Wum Forest Reserve (K-WFR), was undertaken to investigate indigenous people perceptions of human-chimpanzee interactions and the effects on wildlife sustainability and biodiversity conservation. Data collections were obtained with the help of interviewer-administered questionnaire, informal interview using unstructured script, palaces/markets gathering discussion and direct field observations of trade. Surveys were carried out in twenty two villages purposefully selected based on their locations and human activities within the proximity of the park and reserve. A total of 288 interviewers were completed during the study. Most of the respondents 94%, 72% and 98% reported that chimpanzee’s body parts/meats are used for medicinal value, rituals and as food in special occasion respectively. About 36 diseases/conditions were randomly reported to be treated by 22 different chimpanzee’s body parts/meat. The usual price of a matured chimpanzee was reported to be in between 75,000-250,000 francs.cfa. Equally, the unsustainable hunting of chimpanzees for body parts/meat was explored to be cause by loss of traditional taboos and totemic beliefs, influx of new cultural practices from Nigeria and within, poverty increment that hinders modern health assurance couple with the fact that protective laws are both less well known and less appreciated. As such, it is imperative that strategies should be put in place to effectively get rid of human activities that negatively impact on biodiversity conservation of chimpanzees in the vicinity of the park and reserve.

Highlights

Pan troglodytes ellioti, just like all other Chimpanzees and their products constitute essential ingredients in the preparation for traditional medicine (Gaski and Johnson, 1994)
Mvo Denis Chuo and Tsi Evaristus Angwafo: Chimpanzee in Ethno-Primatological Practices and It Implications for Biodiversity Conservation: Kimbi-Fungom National Park and Kom-Wum Forest Reserve, Cameroon despite the increasing number of western medical practitioners and modern medicine, the availability of traditional medicine invariably outweighs that of modern medicine and the number of traditional practitioners in most remote regions of Africa is far greater than the number of western medical practitioners (Soewu, 2008)
Traditional Medicine Practices The escalations of spiritual diseases or illnesses that are difficult to handle through modern medicine or detected in modern laboratories have greatly evolved in recent time

Summary

Introduction

Just like all other Chimpanzees and their products constitute essential ingredients in the preparation for traditional medicine (Gaski and Johnson, 1994). In Africa, the exploitation of chimpanzee and some primate species is largely prohibited because local communities adorned them with ritual meanings, regard them as animal totems, or value them as fetishes or aids to traditional medicine practice as well as to achieve spiritual enlightenment and elevation (Osemeobo, 1991, Adams, and McShane, 1996, Sawandi, 2006, Dedeke et al, 2006) This means that “Ethno-primatology” which studies the complex interactions between humans and non-human primates (Wolfe and Fuentes, 2007) are practices among the indigenous people which existed long before the advent of modern health facilities in Africa (Adeola, 1992). Increase in human population density combined with increases in agricultural and pastoralist activities, plus increased exploitation of non-humans primates as bush-meat (Peterson and Ammann, 2003 and Fa et al 2002), are major causes for their continuous decline

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