Bushmeat

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The African tassel spike (genus porcupine ) is one of the animals that can be found in markets in Cameroon .

Bushmeat ( Engl. For, bushmeat ') is a specifically African term for game meat from animals in the rainforest or in the savannas are hunted. These include above all duikers (small antelopes), rats , monkeys and porcupines , but also other mammals such as elephants and buffalo as well as reptiles , snakes , frogs and birds. Although these wild animals also play a role as food suppliers in Southeast Asia and Latin America , in these regions they do not speak of bushmeat , but of game meat. The Australian term bush food has a different meaning for the traditional form of nutrition of the Aborigines .

General

Around half of all animals caught for consumption are grasscutters and squirrels , while mongooses and porcupines make up another 25 percent . In many areas of West Africa, grasscutters are the most common bush meat found in markets and restaurants. There is no general Christian ban on eating bushmeat; However, there are restrictions for Muslims who take certain food bans from the Koran and the hadiths . The consumption of bushmeat is not addressed in it, but Islamic religious scholars have declared the consumption of monkey meat as not allowed ( harām ). This is independent of the generally observed Islamic killing regulations for animals whose meat is to be eaten. In many places in Africa, the religious ban on food prevents Muslims from eating monkey meat. On the other hand, eating habits - regardless of religious affiliation - are initially shaped by traditions, socio-economic and other local factors.

Hunting wild animals is part of the traditional way of life in Africa ; the way of life as a hunter-gatherer is culturally much older than arable farming . In some poorer regions the population is dependent on the consumption of bushmeat as a source of protein. According to WWF , bushmeat provides 50 percent of the protein content of food in parts of central Africa , and 75 percent in Liberia . In Botswana , game meat was the only source of protein for 46% of households in one study; the average consumption was 18.2 kilograms per month.

The reasons for consuming game meat vary in Africa. In the rural areas of Zimbabwe and Botswana , this meat is 30 to 50 percent cheaper than meat from livestock . In the cities, on the other hand, bushmeat is considered a special delicacy by the rich upper class; The prices for game meat are significantly higher than for other meat, in Mozambique up to 150 percent more. In Madagascar , bushmeat is considered to be of less quality than meat from fish or domestic animals, but the vast majority of a surveyed group stated that they had eaten bushmeat at least once.

Due to the climatic conditions, agriculture and cattle breeding is not possible in all parts of Africa. In addition, the regionally occurring tsetse fly is a threat to livestock.

Problem

Since the animal population of tropical rainforests is significantly lower than that of open savannahs, the population density of populations that live mainly from hunting these animals should not exceed one person / km² so that the population is not continuously reduced. In the Congo Basin the actual population density is 99 people / km².

The African population has increased eightfold since 1900, resulting in a greatly increased demand for meat. The change from traditional methods of trapping with bows and arrows and nets to modern rifles has led to significantly higher fishing quotas and thus a decimation of the species being hunted.

The demand of the international wood industry for tropical wood and the work of the logging columns in the rainforests play an important role in the expansion of the bushmeat trade . These columns cut aisles in the previously inaccessible jungle and create access roads that also enable game hunters to penetrate further and further into the jungle. In addition, the lumberjacks hunt wild animals themselves in order to provide for themselves and sometimes also supply local markets in order to earn additional income.

Internationally, the increasing commercialization of hunting and the trade in African bushmeat over the past few decades is seen as a serious problem. Biologists fear a decline in biodiversity. Animal rights activists primarily criticize the trade in monkey meat. Its advocates, such as Jane Goodall , believe that the extensive trade in bushmeat will result in the extinction of great apes and other endangered species within ten years.

It is estimated that around one to three million tons of bushmeat are eaten each year in the Congo Basin alone; this corresponds to around 28 million duckers and over seven million red colobus monkeys . The bushmeat trade in Ivory Coast is estimated to be worth an estimated $ 150 million annually. The trade in bushmeat is banned in Cameroon , but up to 90 tons of game meat are sold every year in the markets in Yaoundé alone.

Sometimes bushmeat from Africa also reaches Europe and the USA illegally. In 1998 the WWF reported that monkey meat dishes were being served in restaurants in London and Paris .

As a result of contact with freshly slaughtered bushmeat, previously unknown zoonoses can occur in people for whom no medication is then available. Scientists suspect that the HIV pathogen originated from a mutation in the SIV pathogen and was transmitted to humans from African monkeys. The Ebola virus originated in Africa and is transmitted through body fluids; however, the exact origin of this virus is unknown. Based on the contact of a single person during the hunt or the preparation of monkeys or flying foxes , Ebola epidemics arise with numerous deaths who need not have had direct contact with the animals.

literature

  • Solomon H. Katz et al. a. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Food and Culture . Charles Scribners & Sons, New York 2002, Central Africa article .

Web links

Commons : Bushmeat  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Food & Drink - Permitted & Prohibited. islamic-laws.com
  2. ^ Dale Peterson: Great Apes as Food. In: Gastronomica, Vol. 3, No. 2, Spring 2003, pp. 64–70, here p. 64
  3. See Jeffrey B. Luzar, Kirsten M. Silvius, Jose MV Fragoso: Church Affiliation and Meat Taboos in Indigenous Communities of Guyanese Amazonia. In: Human Ecology, Vol. 40, No. 6, December 2012, pp. 833-845
  4. Bushmeat sourcebook. FAO
  5. a b c Jerry Hopkins, Extreme Cuisine: The Weird & Wonderful Foods that People Eat, 2004, pp. 58 ff.
  6. ^ A b Christo Fabricius, Rights, Resources and Rural Development: Community-based natural Resource Management in Southern Africa, 2004, p. 98
  7. RK Jenkins, A. Keane, AR Rakotoarivelo, V. Rakotomboavonjy, FH Randrianandrianina, HJ Razafimanahaka, SR Ralaiarimalala, JP Jones: Analysis of patterns of bushmeat consumption reveals extensive exploitation of protected species in eastern Madagascar. In: PloS one. Volume 6, number 12, 2011, p. E27570, doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0027570 , PMID 22194787 , PMC 3237412 (free full text).
  8. a b c Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (UK): The Bushmeat Trade (pdf) ( Memento of the original from September 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.parliament.uk
  9. ^ E. Bowen-Jones, D. Brown, EJZ Robinson: Economic Commodity or Environmental Crisis? An Interdisciplinary Approach to Analyzing the Bushmeat Trade in Central and West Africa. In: Area, Vol. 35, No. 4, The Royal Geographical Society, December 2003, pp. 390-402, here p. 393
  10. Virological analysis: no link between Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo. World Health Organization (WHO), September 2, 2014, accessed September 4, 2014 .