Impacts of hunting on mammals in African tropical moist forests: a review and synthesis
Abstract
1 Available information on the consumption of wild meat in West and Central Africa is reviewed. We show that mammals are the prime source of bushmeat, and that ungulates and rodents make up the highest proportion of biomass extracted. 2 We present data on current knowledge of extraction patterns of wild mammals in West and Central Africa, and evidence that at current off-take levels, within the range states, mammals as bushmeat are being depleted on an unprecedented scale. Extraction rates are orders of magnitude higher there than in comparable ecosystems like the Amazon, and much less likely to be sustainable. 3 However, basic knowledge of the biology of harvestable tropical moist forest mammals, and the consequences of hunting on mammalian communities, which permits accurate estimation of maximal production rate (the excess of growth over replacement rate), is largely unavailable, and this hinders estimation of hunting quotas and sustainability. Comparisons are made with the existing information available on Amazon basin mammals and hunting patterns reported there.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In all areas where the bushmeat trade has been documented, ungulates and primates are two of three taxa targeted for human consumption.
“which are two of three taxa targeted for human consumption in all areas where the trade has been documented (Fa & Brown, ).”
From Commercial hunting to supply urban markets threatens mammalian biodiversity in Sapo National Park, Liberia (2016) · cites this paper as Fa & Brown, 2009
With 80% of tree species in the Afrotropics relying on animal dispersal, ecological processes such as plant regeneration can be disrupted.
“The extirpation of species can lead to the decline of their predators (Henschel et al., ), and with .% of tree species in the Afrotropics relying on animal dispersal (Beaune et al., ) ecological processes such as plant regeneration can be disrupted (Fa & Brown, ), with far-reaching consequences for plant diversity, composition and forest structure.”
From Commercial hunting to supply urban markets threatens mammalian biodiversity in Sapo National Park, Liberia (2016) · cites this paper as Fa & Brown, 2009
Many rural people depend on wildlife resources as a buffer to see them through times of hardship (unemployment, illness of relatives, crop failure), or to gain additional income for special needs (school fees, festivals, funerals).
“Many depend on wildlife resources as a buffer to see them through times of hardship (e.g.unemployment, illness of relatives, crop failure), or to gain additional income for special needs (e.g.school fees, festivals, funerals) (Fa and Brown 2009)”
From Empty forests, empty stomachs? Bushmeat and livelihoods in the Congo and Amazon Basins (2011) · cites this paper as Fa and Brown 2009
Cites
Peres, C. A., & Palacios, E. (2007) · Biotropica · doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2007.00272.x · Cited by 1,383 · see citing works
Human Population Density and Extinction Risk in the World's Carnivores
Cardillo, M., Purvis, A., Sechrest, W., Gittleman, J. L., Bielby, J., & Mace, G. M. (2004) · PLoS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020197 · Cited by 618 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Empty forests, empty stomachs? Bushmeat and livelihoods in the Congo and Amazon Basins
Nasi, R., Taber, A., & Van Vliet, N. (2011) · International Forestry Review · doi:10.1505/146554811798293872 · Cited by 457 · see citing works
Greengrass, E. (2016) · Oryx · doi:10.1017/s0030605315000095 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
- Authors
- FA, J. E., & BROWN, D.
- Affiliations
- Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (JE)
- Overseas Development Institute (GB)
- Corresponding author
- FA, JULIA E.
- Venue
- Mammal Review
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-09-29
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 231-264
- ISSN
- 0305-1838 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2907
- OpenAlex
- W2111914240
- Cited by
- 307
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 11.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Mammal Review (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
- Keywords
- bushmeat, wild meat consumption, hunting impacts, tropical humid forest, African mammals, ungulates, rodents, extraction rate, sustainable harvesting, hunting quotas, West and Central Africa
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
