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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
environmental science
Patterns of bushmeat hunting and perceptions of disease risk among central African communities
Animal Conservation, Volume 9, No. 4, Year 2006
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Description
There is a great need to determine the factors that influence the hunting, butchering and eating of bushmeat to better manage the important social, public health and conservation consequences of these activities. In particular, the hunting and butchering of wild animals can lead to the transmission of diseases that have potentially serious consequences for exposed people and their communities. Comprehension of these risks may lead to decreased levels of these activities. To investigate these issues, 3971 questionnaires were completed to examine the determinants of the hunting, butchering and eating of wild animals and perceptions of disease risk in 17 rural central African villages. A high proportion of individuals reported perceiving a risk of disease infection with bushmeat contact. Individuals who perceived risk were significantly less likely to butcher wild animals than those who perceived no risk. However, perception of risk was not associated with hunting and eating bushmeat (activities that, compared with butchering, involve less contact with raw blood and body fluids). This suggests that some individuals may act on perceived risk to avoid higher risk activity. These findings reinforce the notion that conservation programs in rural villages in central Africa should include health-risk education. This has the potential to reduce the levels of use of wild animals, particularly of certain endangered species (e.g. many non-human primates) that pose a particular risk to human health. However, as the use of wild game is likely to continue, people should be encouraged to undertake hunting and butchering more safely for their own and their community's health. © 2006 The Zoological Society of London.
Authors & Co-Authors
LeBreton, Matthew
Cameroon, Yaounde
Walter Reed Johns Hopkins Cameroon Program
Prosser, Adria Tassy
United States, Baltimore
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Tamoufé, Ubald
Cameroon, Yaounde
Walter Reed Johns Hopkins Cameroon Program
Sateren, W.
United States, Silver Spring
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
Mpoudi-Ngolé, Eitel
Cameroon, Yaounde
Army Health Research Center
Diffo, Joseph Le Doux
Cameroon, Yaounde
Walter Reed Johns Hopkins Cameroon Program
Burke, Donald S.
United States, Baltimore
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Wolfe, Nathan D.
United States, Baltimore
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Statistics
Citations: 80
Authors: 8
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1469-1795.2006.00030.x
e-ISSN:
14691795