Bushmeat
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Mar 05 2008 | By: admin
I am sorry I have been silent for so long, but I had a problem accessing the weblog. As some of you might know the situation in Cameroon has been prety bad last week, with strikes, roadblocks and riots, but everything is back to normal now. It was a bit difficult to get all the food we needed for the animals, but we managed.
In response to an already old reaction on this weblog I would like to explain a bit more about the bushmeat trade. It is true that the people who live in the forests of Cameroon have hunted for bushmeat for many generations. They used traditional weapons and the animals they caught were for their own consumption. As a result the scale of the hunting was small.
Things are different now. Not because of habituation of primates, as this has hardly been done in Cameroon. Instead, hunters now have access to modern weapons. Secondly, the logging industry has opened up vast areas of forest, by building a network of roads. This makes it easy to transport bushmeat over long distances to cities in Cameroon and even abroad. Hunters and traders make a lot of money in this business, especially when it concerns chimpanzees and gorillas.
As a result many species are in decline. The drill, that has a very small range in Nigeria, Cameroon and on the island Bioko, is critically endangered. Scientists think that there are around 3-6000 left in the wild. Drills live in large groups and mostly on the ground, which makes them a very easy target. This species is completely protected by Cameroonian law, but unfortunately the illegal hunting continues. The arrival of Ndok in the Limbe Wildlife Centre means that a whole group of drills have been killed. This way of hunting on such a small population can never be sustainable.
Ndok will have to miss her family, but with the help of our sponsors we can take good care of her. She is doing really well. The cast has been taken off and her arm is much better now. The swelling is gone and she starts using the arm a bit more. A few days ago we have started introducing her to Tiko, another drill who arrived a few months ago. She is still a bit nervous when she is alone with Tiko, but already making progress.
I think I finally managed to upload a picture of Ndok. The pink on her face is completely gone.
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My name is Felix Lankester, the Project Director of the Limbe Wildlife Centre and also the head veterinarian. I have been at the project since April 2004.
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Donations Received
- Dec 2nd Gwendolen R. USD20.00
- Nov 28th Wanda H. USD22.00
- Nov 9th Pirjo I. USD33.00
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- Nov 7th Amy O. USD110.00
- Oct 26th Gwendolen R. USD20.00
- Sep 30th Chantal A. USD22.00
- Sep 2nd Rebecca K. USD50.00
- Sep 2nd Pirjo I. USD50.00
- Sep 2nd Nigel G. USD200.00
- Aug 29th Chantal A. USD20.00
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- Aug 4th Theresa S. USD25.00
- Aug 1st Chantal A. USD20.00
- Jul 14th Cynthia G. USD130.00
- Jul 3rd Jody U. USD100.00
- Jul 1st Chantal A. USD20.00
7 Responses to “Bushmeat”
Wanda, Atlanta, on 05 Mar 2008
It’s the numbers that are so scary and why so many of us want this awful bushmeat trade to stop - we could never accept it in way obviously but at least when it was small by locals with vast forest full of your beautiful wildlife it was another time in life — and basically the roads just make it easier for them to get to more which wipes out the numbers over and over again and that is why I can’t sleep at night! Heartbreaking!
Christine C., on 05 Mar 2008
Just heartbreaking all around, but I am happy to hear (and see!) that Ndok is doing much better…hopefully she and Tiko will become good friends very soon. Thank you so much for the update and the adorable picture…those eyes are just too much!
F. J. Pechir, on 05 Mar 2008
Thank you for the good news about Ndok! bushmeat, that cancer…
Dipesh Pabari, on 05 Mar 2008
Thanks for this post adn we are glad to hear things are settling in Cameroon as they are in Kenya.
Bushmeat is unquestionably one of the biggest threats to wildlife in Africa and especially in west Africa. And despite all the efforts against the trade and poaching especially, things are still really bad. The Newsweek has done a major feature on poaching where they refer to the situation in Cameroon:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/117875/page/1
sheryl, washington dc, on 05 Mar 2008
I’m glad to hear things are settling, too. I hope it lasts. Thanks for that link, Dipesh. Also, thanks for the update on Ndok.
s.
Pam/Shell Beach, CA, on 06 Mar 2008
Beautiful picture of Ndok. Thanks for the update.
Theresa Siskind St Petersburg FL, on 06 Mar 2008
Felix, are you back?! and hello to Simone. I’m relieved to hear Ndok is using her arm more, she is just so precious. F.J., you are so right, this poaching and the bushmeat trade is like a cancer. As is the turmoil that has much of Africa in it’s grips. Dipesh, thanks for this link and visiting, they do wonderful work here and we are very proud of them!
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