International Primate Protection League

What is Bushmeat?
The term "Bushmeat" covers any animal caught from the wild for the purpose of human consumption.

For centuries the hunting of wildlife has proved mutually beneficial to the hunter and the hunted.  Subsistence hunting, covering many species, has nourished local villagers whilst the quarry has developed avoidance skills that sharpen their wits and senses.  The fecundity of more vulnerable animals ensures a continuing balance of nature.

Why is Bushmeat a Problem?
The commercial bushmeat trade has introduced a new factor whereby the forest creatures are hunted to feed timber crews, townsfolk, and even an ever-growing export market.  Extensive areas have been cleared of wildlife to such an extent that it is not possible for local hunters to provide proper sustenance for their local communities.  Some of the poorest people on earth face starvation to satisfy the luxury needs of émigré peoples now settled in western countries.

Bushmeat is now big business.  By weight it is now more costly in the west than farmed foods.

How Does the Trade Work?
Hunters move into the forests with the sole intention of killing as many animals as they can.  They set snares, use guns, and hunt the larger monkeys and apes with dogs.  Whole families can be wiped out.  Pregnant or nursing females are the preferred target because they are slower moving and, if the hunter kills a mother with a baby, he gets two animals.  But by removing the females, the hunters are rapidly driving the animals towards extinction.

All the hunting methods are completely unselective.  The hunters do not worry, or may not even know, which species are endangered or protected under law.  Everything is killed: from rats to gorillas.

The meat is carried out of the forest by hand, then taken away for sale by road or rail.  This is where the logging industry causes problems.  Timber extraction opens up large parts of the forest which gives hunters greater access to it, and logging trucks have been found carrying bushmeat.  Workers living in large camps also create a ready market for the meat, and some companies have even employed hunters to feed their staff.  Deforestation and bushmeat are therefore intimately linked.

Equally worrying is the discovery of bushmeat on sale in Paris, Brussels and London.  In the UK, bushmeat has been seized at Heathrow, and confiscated from a London market.  A West African restaurant, which has now closed, also offered bushmeat on its menu.  The species being openly traded are often only rodents.  However, even their importation contravenes health and safety laws, and shows how a channel for the smuggling of endangered species exists; a point proven by the discovery of monkey meat on sale in London.

What is the Answer?
The solutions should be simple.  Give the hunters other ways to earn a living, and, where appropriate, introduce alternative sources of protein into the local diet.  The townsfolk must also be informed about the problem.  No one wants to drive their country's wildlife to extinction, but until enough people realise how serious the problem is and how few animals are left, nothing will change.  Wildlife protection laws must be enforced and conservationists must work with community groups to ensure social and cultural taboos concerning wildlife are respected.

What IPPL is Doing
The sanctuaries that IPPL supports are on the frontline in the battle to halt the bushmeat trade.  Their efforts for education, law enforcement, habitat protection and in situ captive breeding are exactly what are needed; though they are only part of the solution.

Bushmeat is a global problem that demands international co-operation.  We are working with the Ape Alliance to encourage the UK and European Governments to play a more active role in stopping the unsustainable trade.

Our Representatives have provided expert evidence to aid the prosecution of traders.

What You Can Do

•  Send an Ape Alliance postcard to the Prime Minister.
   Support the Ape Alliance's campaign.  To find out more, visit their website at www.4apes.com and follow the links to the Bushmeat Working Group.
•  Raise the issue with your M.P.
   You can find out the name of your M.P. and send her or him a message at www.writetothem.com.