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Bushmeat and wildlife poaching papers presented at conference in Brazil Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology July 27, 2005 Below is a sampling of some bushmeat and wildlife papers submitted for the conference. All descriptions are excepts from the official "Book of Abstracts" from the meeting. More abstracts. SITOMPUL, ARNOLD F.; Hedges, Simon; Tyson, Martin J.; Carroll, John P.; Peterson, James T. Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard., Bronx, NY 10460 USA (AFS, SH, MJT), Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 USA(JPC, JTP). Poaching of Asian elephants is believed to have increased rapidly since CITES approved the resumption of ivory trade for five African countries. Evidence suggests that poaching for Sumatran elephant also has increased during the last few years; however accurate data on poaching is very difficult to obtain. To understand the effect of poaching to the Sumatran elephant population, we developed a population model, and investigated the population trajectory under three different poaching scenarios (control, low and high poaching). We use a Leslie Matrix to develop an population model for Sumatran elephant and use poaching scenarios as function of population size. We used linear, exponential and logistic functions of population size and calculated the population trend for 50 years. The population models suggested that in ’control’ and low poaching scenarios, elephant population would not decline in the next 50 years. However with high poaching scenarios with logistic and constant poaching function, elephant population will be extinct in less than 50 years. Logistic poaching function was identified as the most sensitive parameter. We recommend routine population assessment and intensive poaching monitoring should be a priority in the management GAME VERTEBRATE DENSITIES AND LOCAL HUNTING PATTERNS WITHIN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY FORESTS IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON. PARRY, LUKE T. W.; Barlow, Jos; Peres, Carlos A. Centre for Ecology Evolution and Conservation, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom, e-mail: l.parry((AT))uea.ac.uk; CIFOR (Centre for International Forestry Research), Convênio Embrapa - CIFOR, Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Trav. Enéas Pinheiro s/n, CEP: 66095-100, Belém, Pará, Brazil; Museu Paraense Emilío Goeldi, Av. Magalhães Barata 376, Caixa Postal 399, CEP: 66040-170 Belém, Pará, Brazil. Secondary forests account for 40% of all tropical forests yet little is known regarding their suitability as wildlife habitat and their value as hunting grounds to forest communities. Line transect surveys and game harvest studies were used to assess game vertebrate densities and patterns of hunting in four areas of secondary forest and adjacent undisturbed primary forest. Mammalian and avian biomass in secondary forest was equal to that in primary forest though the two forest types had different community assemblages and were subjected to differing patterns of hunting. Some important prey species, such as brocket deer Mazama spp and agouti Dasyprocta agouti, were 2-3 times as abundant in secondary forest, and this habitat is favoured over primary forest for the hunting of these species. Conversely, densities of other game species suchXIX Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology ABSTRACTS as peccaries Tayassu spp was far lower in secondary forests and these were hunted only in primary forest. Although secondary forest has limitations in terms of faunal richness and composition, the high abundance of large vertebrates emphasises the important role this habitat can play for wildlife conservation and its importance in supplying communities with protein. Secondary forests may serve to reduce hunting pressure in adjacent primary forest UTILIZATION AND STATUS OF LARGE MAMMALS IN BAKOSSILAND, SOUTHWESTERN CAMEROON. MORGAN, BETHAN; Dixson, Alan. Conservation and Research of Endangered Species (CRES), Zoological Society of San Diego, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA 92027-7000, USA. We present one aspect of our project in Cameroon: the nature of wildlife utilization and status of large mammals in Bakossiland, an area of outstanding biodiversity currently under gazettement as a National Park and associated protected areas. The stimulus for this study was to determine ’baseline’ offtake levels of wildcaught meat (through conducting detailed market surveys) and establish local perceptions of mammal dynamics (through hunter interviews) before commencing active management of the Protected Areas. Rodents constituted the majority of meat sold in bushmeat markets, although primates and ungulates contributed substantial biomass. Detailed hunter interviews in 15 remote villages suggested a decline in most hunted species. However, populations of some ’flagship’ species such as drills appear to be recovering in some areas thanks to a traditional hunting ban imposed by the paramount chief in 1994. Other key species, such as the yellowbacked duiker, may be close to extinction throughout Bakossiland. Economic incentives for bushmeat over domestically-reared meat are discussed, in addition to the weakening of traditional taboos, and lack of government-led enforcement. One local solution for Bakossiland, however, is the encouragement of the traditional chieftaincy structure, which may offer an effective local solution to the bushmeat crisis, particularly for charismatic species CATCH ME A COLOBUS? EFFECTS OF HUNTING ON VULNERABLE SPECIES IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA. KÜMPEL, NOËLLE F. Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4RY, UK and Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK. noelle.kumpel((AT))ioz.ac.uk. The bushmeat trade is threatening wildlife populations across West/Central Africa. However, species vary in their ability to withstand hunting. In continental Equatorial Guinea most bushmeat is trapped, but shotgun-hunting is increasing as guns become more available and affordable and terrestrial prey becomes scarce. The effects of hunting on different species were studied over 15 months, using a market survey in the city of Bata (recording 14,000 animals), and for the village of Sendje and sites within nearby Monte Alén National Park (PNMA), an offtake survey (recording 10,000 animals), hunter follows and mammal surveys covering 400km of permanent line transects in two sites with differing hunting histories. 35 km from Sendje inside PNMA, gun-hunting pressure was recent and light and the density of black colobus (Colobus satanus) high at 57 ind./km2. However around Sendje itself, where gun-hunting was long-established, C. satanus were virtually absent. Being slow and large-bodied, C. satanus are susceptible to gun-hunting, hence are good indicators of overhunting. About half the primates recorded in Sendje’s offtake were C. satanus, compared to one-tenth in Bata’s market sample, suggesting that PNMA is an important stronghold for this species. Enforcement of protected species and areas is needed to safeguard the future of such vulnerable species SUSTAINABILITY OF SUBSISTENCE AND MARKET HUNTING AMONG THE HUAORANI IN YASUNI NATIONAL PARK, ECUADOR. FRANZEN, MARGARET. Anthropology Department, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 USA, mafranzen((AT))ucdavis.edu. Two techniques are used for evaluating the sustainability of subsistence and market hunting in Yasuni National Park, Ecuador. First, Robinson and Redford’s (1991) model is used to evaluate the sustainability of hunting rates, measured as the number of individuals taken/km2/year. Second, the recent establishment of one community in a previously un-hunted area allows for a natural experiment comparing harvest compositions across three communities at one point in time. Two communities were established ten years prior to the study and the third was established one year prior. Harvest compositions are compared to evaluate the present status of preferred game species surrounding the three communities. The results show that, according to estimated harvest rates, the woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagothricha), spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth), howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus), capuchin monkey (Cebus albifrons), and white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) are at risk of being over-hunted in at least one community. Evidence from harvest composition comparisons suggests that two primate species, the woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagothricha) and spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth), are already facing local depletion in the areas surrounding the two oldest communities. Market sale of hunted meat does not appear to be a significant force driving hunting rates WILDLIFE USE AND CONSERVATION IN THE BOA ESPERANÇA COMMUNITY, AMANÃ SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT RESERVE, BRAZILIAN AMAZON. FLECK, LEONARDO COLOMBO; Bodmer, Richard. Rua Repúblic BUSHMEAT CONSUMPTION IN CAMEROON; BASELINE DATA FOR LONG TERM COMMUNITY CENTERED CONSERVATION PROJECT. ELLIS, CHRISTINA; Kamou, Edouard. The Jane Goodall Institute, B.P. 11317, Yaoundé, Cameroon (CEenbrousse((AT))aol.com). The commercial bushmeat trade, as one of the foremost threats to biodiversity conservation in Central Africa, contributes to food security and the local economy in thirty-one villages bordering the Sanctuaire à Gorilles de Mengamé, Cameroon. As a key component of baseline data collection, a long term bushmeat consumption study is being conducted in three villages bordering the 115000 ha protected area. Complementing inventories of mammals, botany and human socio economics, a village assistant collects data on hunting/ selling zones, hunter demographics, species, state, and price. Results of the first 24 months of data indicate that bushmeat (representing more than 45 species) plays a key role in local economics for select individuals; bushmeat consumption is well below the consumption of fish. However, during the heavy hunting months from August to October, a village of 200 inhabitants may consume 1034 kg of bushmeat and sell an additional kg. Interestingly bushmeat hunting is a secondary activity to preferred livelihoods based on fishing and agriculture (cocoa, plantains, palm oil, maize, groundnuts). Baseline data collected during the project pilot phase provides structure for the definition of impact indicators, and completed the first step of the piloted Community Centered Conservation approach HUNTING EFFECTS ON THE VIABILITY OF JACUTINGA POPULATION (Aburria jacutinga, CRACIDAE) IN A LAND-BRIDGE ISLAND IN THE ATLANTIC FOREST. BERNARDO, CHRISTINE S. S.; Galetti, Mauro; Brito, Daniel; Cruz Neto, Ariovaldo; Azeredo, Roberto M.A. Laboratório de Biologia da Conservação, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, campus Rio Claro, Av. 24-A 1515, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-900, Brazil, christinesteiner((AT))yahoo.com. The Jacutinga Aburria jacutinga is an endemic cracidae of Atlantic Forest and threatened, due to habitat destruction and hunting pressure. The Ilha do Cardoso State Park is an area of Atlantic Forest, located in the southeastern coast of Brazil. In this landbridge island we estimated a population of 132 individuals (ranging from 99 to 176 individuals) throught 273.05 km line transects. Jacutingas are hunted by inhabitants of the island and people that come from other near cities, although poaching is illegal. The aim of this study was to assess extinction probability of the Jacutinga population at Ilha do Cardoso, by considering different hunting scenarios (0, 10, 20 and 30% of jacutingas killed per year). We used the software VORTEX 9.33. The baseline scenario, which was the most optimistic model, considered low annual mortality rates (10%), high carrying capacity (K=1774 individuals) and high effective population size (Ne=64%). Under the baseline scenario there is 99% of extinction probability if 20% of total individuals are hunted per year. Taking into account unknown factors like inbreeding depression and catastrophes, for example, the extinction probability would likely be higher than the present estimates. The conservation status of Aburria jacutinga at Ilha do Cardoso is critical mainly due to its small population size, and even low levels of hunting pressure negatively affects the viability of its population. AFRICAN WILDLIFE COLLEGE AND CAPACITY BUILDING TO ADDRESS THE BUSHMEAT CRISIS THE EXPERIENCE OF GAROUA WILDLIFE COLLEGE (CAMEROON). BABALE, MICHEL; Bailey, Natalie D. Ecole de Faune de Garoua, BP 271 Garoua, Cameroun, Tel: 237 956 56 Fax: 237 227 31 35 (mbabale((AT))yahoo.fr) (MB); Bushmeat Crisis Task Force, 1700 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 403, United States of America, Tel: 202 588 1924, Fax: 202 588 1069 (NDB). At the start of the 21st century, the threats facing African wildlife have become increasingly alarming. In the Congo Basin in particular, the unsustainable illegal, commercial bushmeat trade consumption has reached record levels, depleting the forest ecosystem of its wildlife. To counter the bushmeat crisis, Central African institutions have engaged in a variety of initiatives to raise awareness, develop capacity, enforce laws, develop appropriate policies and identify bushmeat alternatives. Garoua Wildlife College in particular has worked to build the capacity of African wildlife managers through the development of a bushmeat training course module with the support of WWF-U. S. R. E. Train Education for Nature program and the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force. Approximately professionals from nine countries have been trained during the first two training sessions. An evaluation of the module was completed following the second training session (2004). In this session, we will present results and lessons learned from the first two years of bushmeat training courses in Francophone Africa. Society for Conservation Biology - Brasilia 2005 News index | RSS | Add to MyYahoo! Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing |
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