Hunting Restraint by Creoles at the Community Baboon Sanctuary, Belize: A Preliminary Survey

Abstract

This study surveyed 33 male hunters between the ages of 17 and 54 at the Community Baboon Sanctuary (CBS), Belize, to evaluate attitudes and behaviors in relation to hunting black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra). The study defined hunting restraint as a learned predisposition not to hunt 1 or more species of nonhuman animal. Consistent with Belizean folklore, Creoles at the CBS exhibited hunting restraint with respect to black howlers, preferring to kill bushmeat other than monkeys. The most cited reasons for the observed hunting restraint were utilitarian. Historical and cultural factors also appeared significant. The study results are interpreted in terms of economic theory and suggest that disinhibition of hunting restraint might depend on changes in opportunity costs of hunting these primates. Nonetheless, a change in hunting attitudes and behaviors by Belizean Creoles seems unlikely in the near future because the local and national government and the benefits of ecotourism economically and legally protect howlers. The Creoles' culturally transmitted hunting restraint also culturally protects A. pigra, and the species is not a preferred source of food.