Bushmeat Database

The searchable Bushmeat Database contains more than 700 citations, including peer-reviewed journal articles, books and book chapters, technical papers, reports and conference proceedings. Citations include direct DOI-based links to the articles on the original journal or publisher’s website. To see the data displayed in a visual format, visit the Bushmeat Data Map.

Bushmeat hunting in Gabon: socio-economics and hunter behaviour
Author
Author	Coad, L.
Year
Year	2007
Secondary Title
Secondary Title
Volume
Volume	PhD
Pages
Pages
Abstract
Abstract	Bushmeat hunting is a major issue in conservation, with numerous studies indicating the broad-scale unsustainability of the trade in West/Central Africa. At the same time, many of the world’s poorest communities rely on bushmeat as a major source of protein. While urban market studies provide estimates of the size of the trade, our understanding of the drivers and characteristics of bushmeat hunting at the village level is still poor. Using data collected from two villages in Central Gabon, from August 2003 to March 2005, this thesis explores the place of hunting in the context of village livelihoods. Spatial information on trapping offtakes from 76 hunters over one year, combined with hunter interviews, provides a detailed analysis of village landscape use by hunters, and the biological and social factors influencing hunting behaviour. Whilst hunting is the main livelihood option for village men, hunters were predominantly from richer or middle-income households. However, household wealth is perceived to be more strongly related to ownership of plantations (managed by female members of the household) than to hunting. Although bushmeat was an important source of protein for families, a significant proportion of hunting incomes may not have benefited the household, as they were spent on luxury items. Investigation of commodity chain characteristics from forest to market highlights problems with the use of market data as an indicator of hunting sustainability; Only 19 of the species in the original catch were represented in the animals destined for market, and three species accounted for 90% of the individual animals sold. Analysis of individual trap success showed catch rates for these larger-bodied, commercial species were highest in traps furthest from the village, in good quality forest, with low hunting pressure. Hunting strategies and hunter distribution within the landscape were strongly related to hunter age, with hunters of middle age hunting further into the forest, investing more effort, and as a result gaining higher offtakes. The use of the landscape was influenced partly by catch rates, but also by changes in the fabric of the village community as old clan-based structures broke down. This study is the first detailed investigation of trapping within a rural village landscape, investigating hunter decision-making with respect to trap placement, correlates of trapping success, and the role of hunting as within the village economy. It demonstrates that policy to tackle the bushmeat crisis requires a full understanding both of the socio-economic drivers and outcomes of bushmeat hunting and the factors that influence hunting behaviour and catches at the landscape level.
DOI
DOI

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