Biodiversity and Conservation 8: 927–955, 1999.
© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
Bushmeat hunting in the Congo Basin: an assessment
of impacts and options for mitigation
DAVID S. WILKIE
∗
and JULIA F. CARPENTER
18 Clark Lane, Waltham, MA 02451-1823, USA;
∗
Author for correspondence
(fax: +1-617-552-0523; e-mail: dwilkie@email.msn.com)
Received 3 July 1998; accepted in revised form 20 October 1998
Abstract. Hunting of wild animals is an important component of household economies in the Congo
Basin. Results from the growing corpus of quantitative studies show that: a) bushmeat remains the primary
source of animal protein for the majority of Congo Basin families; b) bushmeat hunting can constitute a sig-
nificant source of revenue for forest families; c) bushmeat consumption by low density populations living in
the forest may be sustainable at present; d) demand for bushmeat by growing numbers of urban consumers
has created a substantial market for bushmeat that is resulting in a halo of defaunation around population
centres, and may be driving unsustainable levels of hunting, even in relatively isolated regions; and e) large
bodied animals with low reproductive rates are most susceptible to over-exploitation compared with more
r-selected species that apparently can tolerate relatively intensive hunting (Mangel et al. 1996). As urban
populations continue to grow and economies revitalise, unless action is taken to alter the demand for, and
the supply of bushmeat, the forests of the Congo Basin will be progressively stripped of certain wildlife
species, risking their extirpation or extinction, and the loss of values they confer to local economies.
Consequently, it is essential that a) logging companies are encouraged or coerced not to facilitate bushmeat
hunting and transportation in their concessions, b) we develop a better understanding of the elasticity of
bushmeat demand, c) that pilot bushmeat substitution projects are supported and their impact on demand
evaluated, and d) social marketing activities are put in place to attempt to direct consumer preferences for
animal protein away from bushmeat species that are particularly susceptible to over-exploitation.
Key words: bushmeat, Central Africa, conservation, hunting, tropical forest, wildlife
Introduction
Bushmeat hunting to provide meat for the family, and as a source of income is a
common component of household economies in the Congo Basin and more gener-
ally throughout sub-Saharan Africa (Asibey 1977; ma Mbalele 1978; Martin 1983;
Anadu et al. 1988; Geist 1988; King 1994; Juste et al. 1995). Some ethnic groups
such as the Mvae, Yassa and Kola of Cameroon eat more meat –73 kg/capita/year
(primarily bushmeat) than the average person in France (Chardonnet et al. 1995), or
the industrialized world –30 kg/capita/year. Previous studies have shown that market
and subsistence hunting can result in the unsustainable exploitation of game (Cal-
decott 1987; Geist 1988; Alvard 1993; Ludwig et al. 1993; Lahm 1993a; Alvard
1994; Joanen et al. 1994; Fitzgibbon et al. 1995; Noss 1995; Chardonnet et al. 1995;