A new study explores the factors that influence wild animal hunting patterns in African tropical forests
A new study on wild animal hunting in African tropical forests is the first to explore the factors that influence wild animal hunting patterns – in detail, and on a regional scale.
Co-led by Professor Katharine Abernethy, the study was made possible by advances in data availability and accessibility.
Conducted in collaboration with many organisations including the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale (IRET), the research made extensive use of wildmeat.org – the largest and free-to-access compilation of African hunting data to date – to explore the socio-cultural, economic, and landscape variables associated with wild animal hunting across 115 settlements in African tropical forests.
Through synthesis of 83 studies published between 1991 and 2020, researchers found evidence that village hunters increasingly use guns instead of traditional tools such as spears and traps, which makes it easier to target commercially viable species. Such an increase may have a more significant impact on primate populations, given their high market value.
The study also found there is an increasing shift from subsistence hunting to commercial hunting of wild animals, which provide meat for growing urban populations; and there has been an increase in wild meat trade and gun hunting since 1991, with a potential decline in larger wildlife in easily accessible areas with degraded forests.
Studies like this one – that are made possible through access to large, topic-curated databases – serve as a vital resource for decision-makers, conservationists, and researchers. Through improved, big-picture clarity, these stakeholders are better equipped to design and implement strategies that conserve key ecosystems.
Professor Abernethy
Professor Katharine Abernethy, of the University of Stirling’s Faculty of Natural Sciences, said: “To reach the world’s goals of sustainable management of wildlife, particularly in places where wildlife underpins acute human food security issues, we desperately need to give policymakers better information on what is happening to the wildlife resource, why, and how to manage it better.
“We hope this research will make a major contribution to surmounting the challenges faced by the governments and land managers in the region who are aiming to secure both rural livelihoods and wildlife populations for the future.”
The study was led by Dr Daniel Ingram (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent), Professor Katharine Abernethy (University of Stirling), Professor Jörn Scharlemann (formerly University of Sussex), and Dr Lauren Coad (CIFOR-ICRAF).
Dr Daniel Ingram said: “Our study highlights how important it is for countries to develop robust monitoring and management frameworks for hunters and traders. Without monitoring hunted species populations and the numbers of animals hunted, the sustainability of hunting systems remains unknown.”
The study, Regional patterns of wild animal hunting in African tropical forests, published in Nature Sustainability, was funded by United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship awarded to DJI), and the UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund (TRADE Hub Project).
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