Bushmeat

Bushmeat is meat from wildlife that people hunt to eat. It is most common in parts of Africa, Asia, and South America. People often hunt bushmeat without rules, just to meet their needs. This meat usually comes from small animals in the area, like primates, bats, rodents, birds, and reptiles.

Bushmeat is important because it gives people protein and money, especially in poor areas with tropical forests. However, it can also be dangerous. Handling and eating wild animals can spread diseases to people, like Ebola and HIV.

By 2016, many animals were at risk of disappearing because of hunting for bushmeat. This included many types of mammals, such as primates, bats, rodents, and others, especially in developing countries. This hunting was threatening the balance of nature and the future of these animals.

Nomenclature

The word "bushmeat" comes from Africa and means animals that people hunt for food. It usually talks about animals from Africa, but it can include animals from other places too. In the year 2000, a big group called the IUCN asked countries to help protect these animals because many were being hunted too much.

Hunting animals for food can be good for people who need food, especially if they hunt in a way that does not hurt the animal families too much. But when too many people hunt for food to sell, it can hurt big animals that have babies slowly. This problem is sometimes called the "bushmeat crisis" because it can make both food and animals disappear.

Affected wildlife species

More than 1,000 animal species around the world are affected by hunting for bushmeat. Hunters often use traps to catch wildlife, but they especially look for larger animals because they give more meat.

In West and Central Africa, the bushmeat trade was estimated to be between 1 and 5 million tonnes each year around the year 2000. In the Congo Basin, larger animals give more meat compared to smaller ones. In the Amazon rainforest, the amount of bushmeat taken is much smaller. Many different animals are affected, including primates, bats, rodents, and pangolins. Some areas have seen big drops in certain animal populations because of hunting.

Dynamics

Logging

Logging in African forests often helps people get to remote areas. Companies that cut down trees provide roads and trucks, making it easier for hunters to travel and sell their meat in cities. Some logging companies have worked with governments and conservation groups to help control the bushmeat trade.

Nutrition

Eating bushmeat can help people get important nutrients. Studies in South America show that people who eat bushmeat have more iron, zinc, and vitamin C in their diets, which helps prevent health problems like anemia.

Overfishing

In Ghana, many fish are caught by foreign fishing fleets, leaving less fish for local people. As fish become harder to find, people turn to bushmeat to meet their needs. Over time, this has led to fewer animals in the wild as people hunt more for food.

Pastoralism

Some herders in Sudan and the Central African Republic travel with merchants who also hunt large animals. This hunting has led to fewer giant elands, Cape buffalo, hartebeest, and waterbuck in certain areas. The meat from these animals is transported to markets using livestock.

Role in spread of diseases

Further information: Zoonotic disease

Animals can sometimes spread diseases to people. Many sicknesses like tuberculosis, leprosy, and influenza might have started from animals. Some very serious diseases such as HIV-1, AIDS, and Ebola virus disease are also believed to have come from animals.

When people hunt and eat wild animals, they can sometimes catch these diseases. For example, outbreaks of Ebola in parts of Africa have been linked to eating certain wild animals. Many people who hunt or sell these animals do not always know the risks, even though they may have heard about diseases that can spread from animals to humans.

Management

To help reduce the taking of animals for food, one idea is to give people easier access to other foods like chicken, small livestock, and farmed fish that families can raise themselves. Another suggestion is to let local communities have more control over wildlife. It’s also important to better manage protected areas and enforce wildlife conservation laws.

Sometimes, raising animals in controlled places, called captive breeding, can be a good option. But this needs careful watching to make sure it doesn’t end up helping people hide animals taken from the wild, like what happened with green tree pythons in Indonesia for the pet trade.

Public health and zoonotic disease

Hunting, handling, and eating bushmeat can increase the chance of diseases spreading from animals to humans. People who hunt and prepare wild animals might come into contact with blood and other body fluids that can carry harmful germs. Some serious diseases, like Ebola and HIV, are thought to have started this way.

Diseases can spread through direct contact with sick animals, touching contaminated surfaces, or eating meat that isn’t cooked well. Animals like bats, rodents, and primates are known to sometimes carry germs that can make humans sick. Changes in the environment, such as cutting down forests and moving into areas where wild animals live, can also increase the chances of diseases jumping from animals to people.

One Health perspective

Bushmeat hunting can affect the health of people, animals, and the environment. When people hunt wildlife, it can change the balance of nature and spread diseases between animals and humans.

People sometimes hunt bushmeat because they need food and have few other choices. However, this can also harm wildlife and ecosystems. To help, some solutions include offering other food options, watching for diseases in wild animals, and teaching communities how to handle bushmeat safely.

Prevention and mitigation

To help reduce the risks of eating bushmeat, people work on teaching communities about health and safety. They also create rules to control the trade of wild animals and suggest other foods as good options. Working together with local traditions while sharing safer ways to handle and cook food seems to work better than just saying "no."

Another important step is to improve ways to watch for diseases that can spread from animals to humans. Groups around the world support working together using knowledge from health, animal care, and nature to keep everyone safer.