In Defence of Animals Aug 2007
Bushmeat on the rise in Africa
Support IDA-Africa's efforts to educate locals, stop slaughter of great apes
On August 6, Newsweek reported on the mushrooming bushmeat trade in Africa. Bushmeat is the flesh of wild forest animals in Africa, but the term primarily refers to that of great apes such as gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos. In "Cry of the Wild," Sharon Begly reports that for decades, disappearing habitat was the primary threat to wildlife. But now, great apes are being hunted to extinction for their flesh in west and central Africa. And its not the natives who are killing the animals for sustenance. According to Begly, "there is a thriving market for bushmeat among immigrants in Paris, New York, Montreal, Chicago and other points in the African diaspora, with an estimated 13,000 pounds of bushmeat-much of it primates-arriving every month in seven European and North American cities alone."
As the world's appetite for stranger, more titillating "food" grows, consuming bushmeat, the article states, "is now a status symbol," says Thomas Brooks of Conservation International. "It's not a subsistence issue. It's not a poverty issue. It's considered supersexy to eat bushmeat."
Conservation efforts like protected areas are a start, but the reality is most governments cannot afford to pay the number of enforcement officials necessary and corruption is rampant. Without adequate law enforcement, experts warn Africa's bush faces "empty-forest syndrome" where all larger wildlife will be hunted to extinction.
The slaughtered apes are not the only victims of the illegal trade in bushmeat. The orphans - infants, juveniles, and adults - are victims as well. Visits to remote jungle villages and urban markets often include the sight of dejected orphans listlessly pining for their dead mothers. Visitors to roadside zoos and resort hotels are often shocked at the sight of adult apes - the grown-up orphans - tethered to the ground by short, heavy chains, or caged behind bars for a lifetime.
But the situation is not hopeless. In Defense of Animals-Africa (IDA-Africa) is a project of In Defense of Animals and a non-governmental organization in the Republic of Cameroon. Its mission is to save Cameroon's chimpanzees and gorillas from extinction, wage a conservation campaign against the illegal bushmeat trade, and provide sanctuary in a natural environment for chimpanzee orphans of the illegal bushmeat trade.
IDA-Africa seeks to stop the killing of chimpanzees and gorillas through education, sensitization and increased law enforcement including direct collaboration with other non-profit organizations and with the Cameroon government. To meet this goal, IDA-Africa has a Public Education and Sensitization Campaign through which we produce and distribute posters and brochures, give presentations in schools and adult communities, and broadcast radio ads aimed at raising awareness of the laws against the exploitation of chimpanzees and gorillas and making it socially unacceptable to kill or eat chimpanzees and gorillas.
What You Can Do
Learn how you can support IDA-Africa by making a donation, sponsoring a chimpanzee, or volunteering at the sanctuary.