26 Questions
What is the estimated biomass harvested in the Congo basin?
7,787,300 tonnes
What is the most common species harvested in the Amazon basin?
White lipped peccary
What is the estimated daily protein intake from bushmeat in some African countries?
26-180g/day
What is a proposed method to make culling more acceptable?
Selling the culled animals to local communities
What is predicted to happen to bushmeat supply by 2050 if current rates of over-harvesting continue?
Decrease by 80%
What is the estimated annual turnover of bushmeat in Cameroon?
Approximately US$100 million
What is the estimated percentage of terrestrial mammal species threatened with extinction due to bushmeat hunting?
50%
What is the estimated amount of CO2 saved per year by consuming bushmeat instead of cattle?
71 mega-tonnes
What is the relationship between hunting pressure and the number of animals presented at market for sale?
Negative correlation
What is a potential economic benefit of trading carbon credits related to bushmeat consumption?
Equivalent to 0.1 to 1.5 million US dollars a year
What is the estimated amount of bushmeat smuggled through Charles de Gaulle airport per week?
5 tonnes per week
What is a necessary step to reduce the negative impacts of bushmeat consumption?
All of the above
What is an alternative to bushmeat that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Soybeans
What is the effect of hunting on primate-dispersed plants in Amazonian Peru?
26% decrease in richness
What is the dietary overlap between hunters and leopards in the Congo Basin?
High overlap
Why is bushmeat consumption good for carbon sequestration?
Because it reduces the need for cattle farming
What is a major threat to forests, according to the text?
Logging and agriculture
What is the consequence of enforcement of current laws and depletion of wildlife stock on anaemia in Madagascar?
30% increase in anaemia
What is the primary goal of sustainable harvesting?
To take as much as possible without causing decline
What is the main reason for whaling in the past?
For blubber, spermaceti oil, bones, and baleen
What is the ecological impact of whaling on deep-water ecosystems?
Reduction of scavenger communities
What is the significance of whale faeces in marine ecosystems?
It is a source of nutrients for phytoplankton
What is bushmeat, and where is it commonly associated with?
Hunting for food, and commonly associated with Amazon, equatorial Africa, and parts of SE Asia
What is not considered bushmeat?
All of the above
What are the two basic questions to determine if bushmeat is a sustainable food?
How big is the demand, and can this demand be met by the species harvested?
What is the significance of species density and reproductive output in determining the sustainability of bushmeat?
They are important for determining the off-take relative to the species' parameters
Study Notes
Harvesting and Whaling
- Harvesting: extracting wildlife resources for human gain, aiming for sustainability without causing decline
- Whaling: primarily for blubber, spermaceti oil, bones, and baleen, but also for meat in some cultures
- Indigenous peoples allowed to hunt small numbers for cultural or scientific reasons, but "scientific whaling" is considered a smokescreen for economic activities
- Ecological impacts of whaling include reduced scavenger communities in deep water and decreased whale faeces, an important source of nutrients for phytoplankton, which sequester carbon
Bushmeat
- Definition: human dietary protein not derived from farmed livestock or fish, mostly associated with land-locked countries
- Not used to describe hunting for food in North America, Arctic, Europe, large parts of Asia, South America, Australia, or Antarctica
- Sustainability depends on demand and species reproductive output, with species density and extraction rates considered
- Amazon basin: 148,200 tonnes of biomass harvested, with white-lipped peccary responsible for 25% of total
- Congo basin: 7,787,300 tonnes of biomass harvested, with Bay duiker responsible for 26% of total and forest elephant responsible for 22% of total
Impacts of Bushmeat Harvesting
- Lambir Hills National Park, Borneo: 20% of bird species, 22% of mammal species (including 50% of primates) extinct due to over-hunting
- Global crisis: 301 terrestrial mammal species threatened with extinction due to bushmeat hunting
- Negative issues: public health risks, ecosystem effects, disease transmission, and human health issues
- Future predictions: bushmeat supply to decline by over 80% by 2050, only 3 countries able to supply over 50g protein/day from bushmeat
Controversies and Positives
- Big controversy: imposing conservation-based restrictions on bushmeat harvesting
- Biggest effects on children: anaemia associated with wildlife consumption, enforcement of laws could increase anaemia by 30%
- Economic benefits: annual turnover approximately US$100 million in Cameroon, 0.17% of Gross Domestic Product
- Promoting coexistence: using culled animals for local communities, 89 elephants killed in 2009-10, 41 tonnes of meat given away
- Economic benefit of carbon sequestration: 71 mega-tonnes of CO2 saved per year by not using cattle as a source of protein
Conclusion
- Clear evidence of over-extraction of bushmeat, associated with health and ecosystem threats
- Needed solutions: reduced population growth, poverty reduction, education, effective legal enforcement, and a switch to sustainable harvesting or plant-based proteins.
This quiz explores the concept of sustainable harvesting of wildlife resources, including whaling, and its historical and cultural significance.
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