Posts Tagged ‘Bushmeat’

Jul
18

Vanity Fair: Agony and Ivory

Posted by in Africa,Animal Origins & Fun Facts,community-based conservation,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Featured,Field Research,Travel,What You Can Do

Elephant in Hwange National Park. Credit P. Riger

Well, there is a first time for everything. I went to the store and purchased the August issue of Vanity Fair. Not for that perfumy smell we all enjoy, Society, Hollywood or event Style news. I am quite stylish as I am. This months magazine though features a quite good, and lengthy article on illegal poaching of african elephants for their tusks for the just as illegal ivory market.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/08/elephants-201108

It is hard enough to find solutions to protecting wildlife and habitat among the ever growing human population and our need for increased use of natural resources but poaching of elephants and rhinos for cosmopolitan uses leaves us with that shake your head helpless kind of feeling. And it would all come to a stop if certain cultures would realize they do not need an ivory necklace to match their evening gown or to take rhino horn to cure their medical ailments when an aspirin or the latest ED medication will do just fine.

The victims are not only the wildlife but the local people who are employed to do the killing. Many local cultures typically coexist with native wildlife. The article notes directly that the Maasai ”rarely killed elephants, because they revered them and regarded them as almost human, as having souls like us“. But the need, and promise of, money has turned native cultures into hunters of wildlife they once revered. When you live below the poverty level and at times on $1,000USD or less and people are paying you to hunt wildlife, the financial security of your family comes first.

Poaching will continue to grow as long as people living among these species live below the poverty level with little food or water for their families. But not if the product is worthless on the consumer market.

Frolicking in Hwange National Park. Credit P. Riger

The Vanity Fair article touches on the complex problem from user demand to politically sidestepping of the issues and some may not agree with the numbers and discussions but that someone has decided to print such a detailed piece on the trade, in such a widely circulated magazine is applaudable.  Zimbabwe, the Congo, Kenya, Sudan, Central African Republic – all mythical places in many people mind still, those of deepest darkest Africa. Well, there are people and wildlife both struggling to survive in these places and even knowing a little of their struggles could help.

Separate photo piece here: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/08/agony-and-ivory-slide-show-201108#slide=1

What can you do? Buy the magazine, read the article and then find a elephant conservation project to support either through the Houston Zoo or our friends at Save the Elephants.

I may not stray far from reading National Geographic or Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine often, but I did manage to shuffle a copy of Vanity Fair through the Krogers check-out line hidden between my Gatorade and cupcakes while mumbling to myself about my favorite color of nail polish and only half the line noticed. And I also learned what Kate and Will were up to on their latest  US visit…

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Nov
18

African Forest: Bushmeat

Posted by in Africa,Animal Origins & Fun Facts,community-based conservation,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Featured,Field Research,Galapagos,Gorilla

What is Bushmeat?

In Africa, forest is often referred to as ‘the bush’, thus wildlife and the meat derived from it is referred to as ‘bushmeat’.

The term bushmeat is now commonly used for illegally harvested and marketed wildlife in Africa, Asia and Latin America. “Bushmeat” applies to all wildlife species, including threatened and endangered species, used for meat including: elephant; gorilla; chimpanzee and other primates; forest antelope (duikers); crocodile; porcupine; bush pig; cane rat; pangolin; monitor lizard; guinea fowl and many others.
Unsustainable commercial take, many times illegally, is one of the primary causes in the decline of wildlife species in Africa. Though habitat loss is often cited as the primary threat to wildlife, commercial hunting for the meat of wild animals has become the most significant immediate threat to the future of wildlife in Africa and around the world; it has already resulted in widespread local extinctions in Asia and West Africa.
This threat to wildlife is a crisis because it is rapidly expanding to countries and species which were previously not at risk, largely due to an increase in commercial logging, with an infrastructure of roads and trucks that links forests and hunters to cities and consumers.
Rural communities have always hunted as a protein source for their diets. Sustainably managed, wildlife populations could survive under these circumstances. Today, wildlife is taken in large quantities not solely for personal consumption but for profit and commercial resale. Wildlife populations simply cannot rebound fast enough to maintain viable populations in these areas and are quickly becoming extirpated from many regions of Africa.
For more information and what you can do to slow the trade – link here to our African Forest microsite

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Jul
25

Pangolin: Endangered by the Wildlife Trade

Posted by in Endangered Species

The Pangolin, also called “Scaly Anteaters” are covered in tough, ovelapping scales – consider them the armadillo of the rainforest. They are a burrowing mammal which have a long, sticky tongue for eating ants and termites (much like South America’s Giant Anteater). Their body shape allows them to roll into a tight defensive  ball when threatened.

photo of mom and baby courtesy Carnivore and Pangolin Conservation Center, Vietnam

There are eight known species of Pangolins across Asia and Africa (south of the Sahara region). Hunting for the illegal wildlife trade has quickly turned the Pangolin into one of the most endangered groups of mammals in the world.

Our friend from the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre has provided a nice video of a Malayan Pangolin the wild which can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgr8hguxO_A&feature=autofb

Southeast Asia’s Pangolin populations have been decimated by the  illegal wildlife trade for their meat, skin and scales which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. Earlier this year, nearly 30,000 pounds of pangolin meat and parts were seized. At only 30-40lbs per individual, this was equal to nearly 1,000 individual animals in one confiscation alone.

Then on June 6th, Chinese customs agents seized TEN TONS (over 2,000 individuals plus 90 cases of scales) of pangolins being smuggled across on a fishing vessel. Follow the story here as reported on Time.com.

To learn more about Pangolins, go to SavePangolin.org

photo courtesy Carnivore and Pangolin Conservation Center, Vietnam

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Aug
12

Year of the Gorilla Part 8: The Bushmeat Trade

Posted by in Africa,Elephant,Endangered Species,Gorilla

No pictures today as we will touch briefly on the issue of illegal bushmeat and gather much of the information from the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force (BCTF). This will be just an introduction and then we can steer you to more detailed websites for information.

Bushmeat is simply defined as meat that comes from the “bush” and in Africa this means the forests. For generations, local communities carried out subsistence hunting, gathering animals as needed as a vital protein source. But at some point the hunting of bushmeat went from sustainable to the “Bushmeat Crisis”. It is defined on the BCTF website as “Commercial, illegal and unsustainable hunting for the meat of wild animals is causing widespread local extinctions in Asia and West Africa. It is a crisis because of rapid expansion to countries and species which were previously not at risk, largely due to an increase in commercial logging, with an infrastructure of roads and trucks that links forests and hunters to cities and consumers.”

Gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, forest antelope, crocodiles, monkeys, birds, buffalo, hippo’s…are all taken as part of the trade, endangered species – protected or not. Again directly from the BCTF website: Though habitat loss is often cited as the primary threat to wildlife, commercial hunting for the meat of wild animals has become the most significant immediate threat to the future of wildlife in Africa and around the world; it has already resulted in widespread local extinctions in Asia and West Africa. This threat to wildlife is a crisis because it is rapidly expanding to countries and species which were previously not at risk, largely due to an increase in commercial logging, with an infrastructure of roads and trucks that links forests and hunters to cities and consumers. The bushmeat crisis is a human tragedy as well: the loss of wildlife threatens the livelihoods and food security of indigenous and rural populations most depend on wildlife as a staple or supplement to their diet, and bushmeat consumption is increasingly linked to deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and Foot and Mouth disease.

Simply stated – if one village or community hunts wildlife as a sustainable resource, there are opportunities to protect endangered species and protect habitats. When wildlife is taken illegally, in mass quantity not for personal use but to sell for profit, and shipped across country borders, it is no longer sustainable.

Take a few minutes to learn about the issues facing wildlife not in only in Africa, but Asia and other developing nations at the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force website http://www.bushmeat.org

I will just add here that last year, nearly 300,000 pounds of Bushmeat was confiscated being flown into the US illegally. The problem is not simply related to only developing nations.

Tomorrow’s Gorilla Blog : A War for Wildlife

*This is part 8/10 in our Membership Giveaway. Post a comment here and on at least 2 other mt gorilla blogs to enter to win a free Zoo membership.

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