The Bush-Meat Trade and Rural Livelihoods

The bush-meat trade is one of the biggest threats to wildlife in Africa. Most bush-meat studies have focused on Central & West Africa. Little work had been done in southern and eastern Africa where poaching was thought to occur at a sustainable level. It is now apparent that bush meat hunting is a major threat to wildlife populations in southern Africa.

In the Savé Valley Conservancy, studies show that bush-meat hunting is utterly unsustainable as currently practiced.

Most poaching is done with wire snares, which kill hundreds of animals that are never recovered by the hunters. Non-target species such as lions, wild dogs and elephants often fall victim to these deadly snares. Recently, an elephant carcass was found, the snare still wrapped around a foreleg. The elephant snapped the trap wire but the snare was still wrapped around the animal’s leg. Infection set in and killed the elephant, a fate that befalls many large mammals.

This project works to reduce the need for poaching through alternatives such as efficient legal hunting to meet food needs. Additional efforts go toward increasing anti-poaching activities performed by members of local communities.

Unrecovered Cape Buffalo killed by snare

Photo: P. Lindsey. Used by permission.