In a new study released this
month, conservationists are sounding the alarm about a growing hunting crisis
plaguing rainforests in central Africa. The study, published in the
journal Biological Conservation, found that more large forest birds such
as raptors and hornbills are being killed to provide bushmeat (wildlife taken
for food) than previously thought. Researchers concluded that unless the threat
posed by unsustainable hunting is reduced, bird populations will continue to
decline—potentially leading to devastating consequences for the biodiversity of
the region.
The study was conducted in the
Littoral Region of Cameroon, where scientists surveyed 19 villages that border
the proposed Ebo National Park in the western part of the country. Researchers
used direct and indirect questioning and statistical models to quantify the
socioeconomic predictors, scale and seasonality of illegal bird hunting, and bird consumption in
the area.
"Understanding why people
eat birds and quantifying how many are killed is just the first step in
understanding how bushmeat hunting can affect birds like hornbills and
eagles," said Robin C. Whytock, a Ph.D. researcher at the University of
Stirling in Scotland and lead author of the study. "I think birds such as
crowned eagles are particularly threatened by hunting in Cameroon, both because
of direct persecution and because their prey base has been depleted by hunting.
These and other similar large-bodied birds that reproduce slowly are therefore
a conservation priority."
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