Bushmeat hunting by communities adjacent to the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania: the importance of livestock ownership and alternative sources of protein and income

Environmental Conservation - Tập 29 Số 3 - Trang 391-398 - 2002
Martin Loibooki1,2, Heribert Hofer3,4, Kenneth L. Campbell5, Marion L. East3,4
1School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, Reading University, Reading, RG6 6AJ, UK
2Tanzania National Parks, PO Box 3134, Arusha, Tanzania
3Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Strasse 17, D-10315 Berlin, Germany
4Max-Planck-Institut für Verhaltensphysiologie, D-82319, Seewiesen, Germany
5Rose Cottage, Chartham Hatch, Canterbury, CT4 7LS, UK

Tóm tắt

Illegal hunting of resident and migratory herbivores is widespread in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. To devise effective strategies to reduce levels of hunting, information is required on why people are involved in illegal hunting and the role of bushmeat in the local economy. Participation in hunting may be influenced by measures of relative wealth, including livestock ownership, means of generating cash income and access to alternative sources of meat. Data came from 300 individuals responding to a questionnaire in 10 villages, from responses by 359 people in 24 group discussions in another 12 villages, and from 552 people arrested and interviewed in the National Park. A smaller proportion of individual respondents (32%) than group respondents (57%) volunteered that they participated in illegal hunting. Most individual and group respondents were subsistence farmers who considered bushmeat to be a source of protein and a means of generating cash income. Three-quarters of those arrested participated in hunting primarily to generate cash income and a quarter claimed that they only hunted to obtain food. Participation in illegal hunting decreased as wealth in terms of the number of sheep and goats owned increased. People with access to alternative means of generating income or acquiring protein were also less likely to be involved in illegal hunting. Arrested respondents were typically young adult males with low incomes and few or no livestock. Illegal hunting was not reduced by participation in community-based conservation pro-grammes. Results suggested that between 52 000 and 60 000 people participated in illegal hunting within protected areas, and that many young men (approximately 5200) derived their primary source of income from hunting.

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Environmental Conservation

Tập 29 Số 3

391-398

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