Poaching and bushmeat trade in the Green Heart of Africa
1) Monkey A major item in the bushmeat trade, Gabon. 2) Antelope killed by subsistance hunter is carried back to village. Central Africa. 3) Duikers killed by subsistance hunters are display by the road side for sale to passing motorist Central Africa.
The tragedy of silenced rainforests
A monkey moseys slowly up a tree, looks around and rests for a while on a branch. A gunshot rings. The monkey falls to the ground. Two men pick up the dead animal, string it to a pole and take it back to the village for a quick sale.
Taken alone, there is nothing worrying about this event. But multiply it a few hundred thousand times within a year and you have a problem. Or, more accurately, a crisis.
Today, the bushmeat trade is a leading cause of biodiversity loss in the Congo Basin forests, a crisis decimating a host of nature’s innovations from elephants to small primates. The logging industry and a rapidly increasing human population are 2 factors which are worsening the problem.
Today, the bushmeat trade is a leading cause of biodiversity loss in the Congo Basin forests, a crisis decimating a host of nature’s innovations from elephants to small primates. The logging industry and a rapidly increasing human population are 2 factors which are worsening the problem.
