W ild vertebrates are a source of food and income for millions of people throughout the tropics. However, overhunting is a major concern, causing the decline of large-bodied animal species and even driving some to extinction (Maxwell et al. 2016; Ripple et al. 2016; Benítez-López et al. 2017). Unsustainable hunting threatens the food security of rural human populations that depend on wild meat (Nasi et al. 2011; Cawthorn and Hoffman 2015). In tropical forests, wild animals are hunted with a variety of methods, involving both traditional (eg bow and arrow) and modern (eg firearms) weapons (Fa and Brown 2009). Methods have improved incrementally over time, through the use of metal wire for the manufacture of snares and traps in Africa, cheaper guns, and the availability of incandescent battery-powered flashlights for hunting at night (Hames 1979; Redford and Robinson 1987; Alvard 1995). Flashlights are used to locate animals using the eyeshine that many species exhibit, a method known as "spotlighting" or "lamping" (Hames 1979). Bright lights at night temporarily immobilize many animals, which appear to perceive the light as non-threatening; this behavior allows hunters to approach within a short distance of the targeted animals, thereby greatly improving their chances of making a kill. Powerful, white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are increasingly replacing incandescent bulbs in flashlights. LED flashlights are brighter and approximately 10-20 times more efficient than incandescent bulbs (Pimputkar et al. 2009). Although LEDs have existed for decades as low-power indicator lights, and high-power white-light emitters have been in production since 1999, this technology has remained prohibitively expensive for hunters in developing countries for many years. Based on observations made by our collaborative research groups, LED flashlight prices became competitive with those of incandescent flashlights around 2012, and LED flashlights are now available in rural markets throughout tropical Latin America, Africa, and Asia, where they are commonly used in nocturnal hunting. We investigated the impact of LED flashlights in increasing wild mammal offtake by hunters in tropical forests through interviews with commercial and subsistence hunters in Peru, Brazil, and Gabon. We support our qualitative analysis with data from hunting events monitored for 13 years in the Brazilian Amazon, which allow for the comparison of hunting returns before and after the introduction of LED lights. Methods Hunter interviews Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 120 shotgun hunters in three countries (Peru, Brazil, and Gabon)
Se dispone de escasos estudios que describan los hábitos alimenticios de los primates no humanos (PNH) que permiten conocer el uso de los recursos alimenticios del ecosistema en el bosque amazónico. El estudio tuvo como objetivos (1) determinar la composición de la dieta de seis especies de PNH y (2) evaluar la amplitud y diversidad de sus dietas a partir de la evaluación de los contenidos gástricos de animales cazados con fines de subsistencia por pobladores de tres áreas del norte de la Amazonía peruana entre 2012-2015. Se trabajó con muestras de 82 primates de las especies Lagothrix poeppigii (n=30), Sapajus macrocephalus (n=23), Pithecia monachus (n=11), Cacajao calvus (n=8), Cebus albifrons (n=6) y Alouatta seniculus (n=4). La dieta de los PNH estuvo constituida por una alta variedad de frutos, entre ellos por 133 tipos de semillas y 39 tipos de artrópodos. La amplitud del nicho según el Índice de Levin y el Índice de Diversidad de Simpson indican que L. poeppigii es la especie más generalista en lo referente a frutos y artrópodos. Por el contrario, Cebus albifrons es la especie más especialista en lo que se refiere a frutos y P. monachus cuando se trata de artrópodos.
Traditionally, humans have consumed nonhuman primates in many places, including throughout the Amazon region. However, primate consumption rates are changing with rising urbanization and market access. We characterize primate consumption in central Amazonia using 192 qualitative interviews with inhabitants in three rural villages and in the city of Tefé. We used a generalized linear model to investigate how individual consumer characteristics, such as age and gender, and livelihoods affected primate consumption. We also used principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), and word clouds and network text analyses, to describe reasons people gave for eating or avoiding primates. Our results show that men were more likely to say that they eat primates than women, and that the probability that a person said that they eat primates correlated positively with the percentage of their life lived in rural areas. People gave sentiment and ethical reasons not to eat primates. Custom influenced whether people said they eat primates both positively and negatively, while taste positively influenced whether people said they eat primates. A preference for other wild meats in rural areas, and for domestic meats in cities negatively influenced whether people said they eat primates. People also cited the perceptions that primates have a human-like appearance and that primate meat is unhealthy as reasons not to eat primates. People in urban areas also cited conservation attitudes as reasons for not eating primates. Our findings provide an understanding of factors influencing primate consumption in our study area and will be useful for designing tailored conservation initiatives by reducing hunting pressure on primates in rural settings and increasing the effectiveness of outreach campaigns in urban centers.
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