Wild Animals Used as Food Source in the Region of the Serra do Conduru State Park – PESC, Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

Background: The consumption of wild animals through hunting performs an essential role in human eating habits in different tropical areas. However, the frequent and consistent use of hunting is indicated as one of the main causes of extinction and/or population decline in various species. Thus, the present study aimed to identify the wild animals used as food source in five locations in the region of the Serra do Conduru State Park, Bahia, Brazil.Methods: The field survey was carried out from June 2016 to July 2017 by conducting semi-structured interviews, complemented by informal conversations with 45 hunters (44 men and one women), who provided information on hunted species, the purpose of hunting, capture techniques, and other aspects of hunting. We characterized the composition of the species used for feeding in the five locations through permutation multivariate analyses of variance. Generalized linear models were built to assess whether the socio-demographic variables of the hunters affect the number of captured species.Results: A total of 67 species (34 families and 22 orders) of hunting importance were registered in the region, 41 of which are captured for eating. The taxa most represented were: mammals (32), birds (21), reptiles (13) and amphibia (1). Pecari tajacu, Dasypus novemcinctus, and Cuniculus paca are the most hunted species for food. Hunters who still reside within the conservation unit capture a greater number of wild animals. Older hunters and hunters with a smaller family size hunt more species. The rifle and domestic dogs are the most used techniques in the region.Conclusion: The results demonstrate that illegal hunting is a practice that still occurs in the region of the Serra do Conduru State Park. This reinforces the need for measures aimed at the conservation of hunted species, especially those found to be under some degree of threat in nature. Future research is necessary to estimate the pressure hunting exerts on the region and to assess its impact on local fauna.

Are beekeepers conservation-friendly? A study on attitudes and values toward animals among small-scale farmers

“…In general, research on activities that favor beneficial human-nature interactions has contributed to the empirical analysis of the various factors (including affective and aesthetic) that influence human attitudes toward biodiversity (Zhang et al 2014;Silva-Andrade et al 2016;Carvalho et al 2018;Vanderstock et al 2022;Moreno-Rubiano et al 2023;Teixeira et al 2024). For example, in previous research, we found that emotional and aesthetic criteria were the most salient motivations for adopting stingless beekeeping as a small-scale activity among farmers in northeastern Brazil (Carvalho et al 2018).…”