The Harvest of Tropical Wildlife for Bushmeat and Traditional Medicine

Abstract

<jats:p> Bushmeat is not only an important source of fat, micronutrients, and macronutrients, but it also has medicinal uses. Extensive human–wildlife interactions may lead to pathogen exchange and trigger zoonotic infectious disease outbreaks such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, Ebola, and coronavirus disease 2019. In the tropics, bushmeat has become one of the most threatened resources due to widespread habitat loss and overexploitation, largely driven by increased global demand, weak governance, and lack of enforcement. Unsustainable harvesting, consumption, and production practices are common, although drivers are complex and intertwined and vary regionally, pointing to a looming rural nutrition security and wildlife conservation issue. Growing demand in fast urbanizing markets coupled with easy access fuels the illegal trade of bushmeat, medicinal products, and wildlife-based luxury goods. Although bushmeat contributes significantly to rural people's income and poverty alleviation, overharvesting impacts those who are most dependent on the forest. To balance the rural and cultural importance of bushmeat with conservation and public health priorities, strategies to safeguard tropical biodiversity, sustainable harvest of wildlife with reduced health risk for nutrition and medicine are urgently needed. </jats:p><jats:p> Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Volume 45 is October 19, 2020. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates. </jats:p>

Human-Altered Landscapes and Climate to Predict Human Infectious Disease Hotspots

“…Studies show that the emergence of coronaviral diseases, such as SARS [ 38 ] and MERS [ 39 ], is directly related to exposure to body fluids from mammals raised in confined spaces for bushmeat and recreational activities, respectively. “Wild flavor” bushmeat restaurants and markets are often located in densely populated cites, where the demand for exotic proteins is high [ 26 , 40 ], and cases are, therefore, more likely to be reported in densely populated areas. In the case of MERS, there is an increase in reporting in large cities as camel owners seek treatment for respiratory distress in tertiary hospitals located in large cities and are, therefore, more likely to report cases [ 39 ].…”

Wild Meat

“…Focusing on research related to wild meat in tropical forests, BRI has produced studies in ten African countries, five Latin American countries and one country in Asia. Global assessments of wild meat issues have been published (Swamy and Pinedo-Vasquez 2014), as well as regional assessments for West and Central Africa (Taylor et al 2015), the Amazon region (van Vliet et al 2015a, b) and Asia (Lee et al 2014;Lee et al 2020). BRI has also participated in assessments of wild meat extraction in African savannahs (Lindsey et al 2013(Lindsey et al , 2015.…”

Zootherapy as a potential pathway for zoonotic spillover: a mixed-methods study of the use of animal products in medicinal and cultural practices in Nigeria

“…While a majority of traditional medicine practices use plants, the use of animals (i.e. zootherapy) is also important and widespread [ 27 , 28 ]. The increasing demand for traditional medicine contributes to unsustainable harvest and international trade in wildlife, which is a pressing conservation concern and threatens human health by allowing animals and their pathogens to travel across large distances [ 29 , 30 ].…”