Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations governing prey choice by hunters in a post-war African forest-savannah macromosaic

Abstract

Overhunting typically increases during and after armed conflicts, and may lead to regional-scale defaunation. The mitigation of hunting impacts is complex because, among other reasons, several intrinsic and extrinsic motivations underpin the elevated deployment of hunting practices. Here we present the first study focusing on these motivations in a post-war zone. Following persistently heavy hunting pressure during the 27-year Angolan civil war, the offtake of small to medium-bodied species has increased recently as a result of large mammal depletion. However, prey choice associated with different motivations varied in terms of species trophic level and body size. While most residents hunted large-bodied species to maximize revenues from wildlife trade, many low-trophic level smaller species were harvested to meet local subsistence demands because they were more palatable and could be captured using artisanal traps near hunters’ households. Mainly low-trophic level species were killed in retaliation for crop-raiding or livestock depredation. Considering all game species sampled in this study, 96% were captured to attend two or more motivations. In addition, hunting associated with different motivations was partitioned in terms of age and gender, with prey acquisition for the wildlife trade primarily carried out by adult men, while hunting to meet local subsistence needs and inhibit human-wildlife conflicts were carried out by adult men and women, children and even the elderly. In natural savannah areas lacking fish as a source of protein, a higher number of species was selected to supply both the meat trade and subsistence, while more species in forest areas were targeted for trade in animal body parts and conflict retaliation. Finally, local commerce in bushmeat and other body parts accrued higher domestic revenues compared to any alternative sources of direct and indirect income. However, these financial benefits were at best modest, largely unsustainable in terms of prey population collapses, and generated high long-term costs for the local to regional scale economy and native biodiversity.

The establishment of a collaborative surveillance program with indigenous hunters to characterize primate health in Southern Guyana

“…While further research is necessary to more deeply characterize Waiwai understanding of animal disease, these results suggest that hunters may have accurate traditional ecological knowledge about wildlife health and disease. This is not surprising given that Indigenous Amazonians have been hunting primates for millennia and have detailed knowledge of the behavioral ecology and population abundance of the animals that they harvest (Braga‐Pereira et al, 2021; Cormier, 2003; Shepard, 2002; Zent & Zent, 2020). Further, the hunting, butchery and consumption of primates is a subsistence strategy that is ubiquitous throughout Amazonia (Shaffer et al, 2019).…”

“…Subsistence hunters are well‐posed to collect valuable data on the health of the primates they live with and depend on for food. People who harvest primates for food are particularly astute observers of changes in wildlife populations, including potential disease in the animals they harvest (Braga‐Pereira et al, 2021; Cormier, 2003; Milstein et al, 2020; Shaffer et al, 2018; Shepard, 2002; Zent & Zent, 2020). Primate hunting requires a high degree of traditional knowledge about primate behavior and ecology.…”

The importance of structural, situational, and psychological factors for involving hunters in the adaptive flyway management of geese

“…Given hunters’ position in a social-ecological structure, hunting decisions and subsequent hunting behaviors can be considered based on a combination of external and internal motivation 38 , 39 . The present study integrates self-determination theory (SDT) of motivation 40 with identity theory 41 in a novel approach to understand motivations for hunting (Fig.…”

Hunting practices in southwestern Amazonia: a comparative study of techniques, modalities, and baits among urban and rural hunters

“…Traditional hunting practices can generate information that can be incorporated into scientific capture methods [ 24 ], biodiversity monitoring programs [ 25 – 27 ], and management of hunted species [ 27 , 28 ]. In the case of lowland pacas ( Cuniculus paca ), hunting methods such as chasing with dogs, used frequently by Amazonian local communities, generate a higher capture rate when compared to conventional scientific methods such as live trapping, besides having a lower cost [ 25 ].…”