Abstract
Poaching or illegal hunting of wildlife for bushmeat is common in Cote d’Ivoire and particularly in center-western regions where it is actually a major income source contrary to traditional livelihood need. In order to assess the threat and impact of illegal bushmeat off take on sustainable biodiversity and conservation of wildlife resources to fill the information gap we examined the quality and quantity of extracted wildlife fauna for bushmeat in these regions from September 2018 to April 2019. Forty- seven bushmeat data collection sites were considered. Data collection was designed to collect information on the species poached, quantity, sex of poached animals, age estimate as well as poaching methods. A total of 352 wildlife mammals corresponding to 8 orders and 18 species was collected from bushmeat traders and markets. The order of rodents comes largely in the lead with more than half of the specimens encountered that is, 67.05% and the grass cutter species, Thryonomys swinderianusis the most poached and the only one found in all the sites investigated. A significant sex-specific pressure (p<0.009) was noted. Despite 77.78% of the species collected are classified minor concern, it is undeniable that the conservation status of wildlife biodiversity will always be threatened by illegal hunting. It is therefore up to the state authorities to officially cover hunting with clear control measures for the sustainable management of wildlife biodiversity. Key words: Bushmeat, illegal hunting, poaching, biodiversity, wildlife, harvest, conservation.
Highlights
Bushmeat, defined as meat and organs derived from wildlife species has always been a source of food for humans living in rural areas in many parts of the world (Milner-Gulland and Bennett, 2003)
A total of 352 wildlife mammals corresponding to 8 orders and 18 species was collected from bushmeat traders and markets of the seven cities visited
The site from Vavoua area provided a greater number of bushmeat (69) corresponding to 13 out of 18 species observed
Summary
Bushmeat, defined as meat and organs derived from wildlife species has always been a source of food for humans living in rural areas in many parts of the world (Milner-Gulland and Bennett, 2003). Consumption of bushmeat, besides being an important source of protein for rural households, has implications for food security and income generation for millions of people in tropical areas (Nasi et al, 2008). Current population growth, increased access of hunters to row forests due to expansion of roads, marketing of bushmeat in large urban cities, taste preference and illegal hunting procedure have resulted in hunting and related bushmeat trade activities which negatively impact wildlife worldwide, with serious implications for biodiversity conservation (Chaves et al, 2019; Gonçalves et al, 2019). More recent estimates suggest that almost six million tons of wild mammal meat are consumed each year in the neo-tropical and tropical Africa regions (Nasi et al, 2011), with up to 301 species of terrestrial mammals currently threatened with extinction (Ripple et al, 2016)
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