Are Some Species Really Being "Eaten to Extinction"?

A new report has suggested that certain species of animals around the world are close to extinction as a direct result of being hunted by man. As the first global investigation of its kind, the study alleges that several hundred species of animal are in danger of being wiped off the face of the Earth due to extensive hunting in rural areas.

While bushmeat has always been an important source of sustenance for hundreds of millions of people, the commercialisation of the practice and the globalisation of today’s market has led to animals being culled at a far greater rate than ever before.

An old threat armed with new technology

Animals all over the globe have had their longevity threatened by a variety of different factors. Climate change, often leading to changes in air and water quality levels, can drastically disrupt their habitats, meaning that many creatures are constantly at a disadvantage.

While humans have hunted animals for millennia, this has traditionally formed a natural part of the food chain. However, the huge advances in technology in our recent history has led to roads being built further and further into remote areas, reducing the options for escape presented to prey. This has been coupled with advanced hunting techniques and sophisticated weaponry, meaning the animals have little chance of survival.

What’s more, the globalisation of commerce has meant that what was once a matter of sustenance has now become a method of making money.

“There are a plenty of bad things affecting wildlife around the world and habitat loss and degradation are clearly at the forefront, but among the other things is the seemingly colossal impact of bushmeat hunting,” explained Professor David Macdonald, a member of the team that carried out this latest study.

“The number of hunters involved has gone up, and the penetration of road networks into the remotest places is such that there is no refuge left. So it becomes commercially possible to make a trade out of something that was once just a rabbit for the pot. In places like Cameroon, where I have worked, you see flotillas of taxis early in the morning going out to very remote areas and being loaded up with the [bushmeat] catch and taken back to towns.”

Hundreds of species at risk

The study, which was published in the Royal Society Open Science journal, looked at a list of animals classed as endangered due to human hunting compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Their results showed that 7% of all land mammals monitored by the IUCN and 25% of all endangered animals were primarily under threat from hunting, which amounted to 301 different species.

These included:

• 168 primates, including the mandrill and the lowland gorilla
• 73 hoofed mammals, including the Bactrian camel and the wild yak
• 27 bats, including the black-bearded flying fox and the golden-capped fruit bat
• 26 marsupials, including the grizzled tree kangaroo
• 21 rodents, including the alpine woolly rat and the Sulawesi giant squirrel
• 12 carnivores, including several types of bear and the clouded leopard
• Eight kinds of pangolins (scaled anteaters), which represent every variety of the animal

While new and innovative methods of monitoring animals in non-invasive manners are continually being developed, these will do little to curb the extinction of the aforementioned animals if the proliferation of hunting continues.

Indeed, if the animals are to be saved, more protective litigation will need to be put in place to prevent them being hunted to extermination. This must be accompanied by better education on the topic, provision of alternative foods and the encouragement of wildlife conservation across the board.