The rate at which Africa is devouring its wildlife is entirely unsustainable, Cameroon’s Environment Minister says.
He is demanding international action to control the trade, which produces as much as five million tonnes of bush meat from the Congo basin alone every year.
The trade threatens the survival of several already endangered species, including elephants and great apes.
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A great ape killed to be eaten
*Thap - Having seen this first hand whilst working in the Mamfe rainforest in Cameroon 2 years ago I know this is a huge problem.
Typically in any part of the rural and rain forested areas I came across 1 or 2 elephant carcasses and a good few people selling porcupine, gorilla and other such delicacies from huts along tracks through the jungle.
I spoke to several people about this and was puzzled by the fact that cattle were in plentiful supply (introduced by the government to combat the increasing number of wild animals hunted for meat) yet not popular.
I was typically told that bush meat had ‘extra special vitality’ and tasted ‘good’ and had nourishment that cattle did not supply; needless to say I caught and ate river fish for the duration.*
I still find this so disturbing. The rainforest is being drained of its resources and wildlife due to the rate at which gorillas, chimps and other apes are being consumed. The brain is especially considered a delicacy. But Thap how do you stop this when its so entrenched in their culture and lifestyle?
Yup catty that's the essence of it, not only is this resource considered a cure for all ills but is also so readily available now that hunters have got increasingly skilled at catching these animals. It wasn’t so easy for a bushman to down an elephant in the past, but now some of these guys actually have high caliber weapons to do the job.
I know the government in Cameroon was running a huge campaign to encourage the use of livestock herding to the communities on the fringes of the rain forest, but the locals openly mocked this sort of cajoling. Bush meat was openly available in the bigger cities too. I saw it on the menu at the Hilton in the capital city.
I think in order to try and reverse this trend the respective governments throughout Africa need to begin to impose stiffer fines and sentencing for the traffic of this meat.
I used to read about this sort of stuff long ago and think how sad, but until I'd seen a dead elephant up close I didn't know how sad.
The government of Cameroon was actually trying to do something about it? Im sure the president himself has the same food served to him! SADC should do something about it.