 Global
Connections
with David Suzuki
Need to curb appetite for bushmeat
Last week, the journal Science reported the discovery of a new species of monkey
in Africa. Coincidentally, the satirical magazine The Onion also wrote about the
discovery of a new, rare species of monkey - and how it was so delicious that
it would not last long.
Sadly, The Onion is not that far off.
Hunting for primate "bushmeat" in Africa is on the rise, and unless
work is done to reduce the demand for primate meat, many species could disappear
within a few short years. The latest animal to be added to the threatened list
is the "kipunji," a type of mangabey recently found in the forests of
Tanzania. It is the first new monkey species to be discovered in 20 years and
it immediately went on the threatened list. Researchers estimate there are no
more than 1,000 of the animals across its entire range, which encompasses just
120 square kilometres.
As habitat disappears and hunters use logging roads to push deeper into the
remaining jungle, they are encountering more species of primate, more often. So
the monkeys like the kipunji face a double threat; first from the logging that
destroys their homes, then from the hunters who have easier access to remote and
formerly inaccessible areas.
But the hunters themselves are also facing increased risks. A new study reported
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that the transfer
of viruses from monkeys to humans is a relatively common event. Researchers surveyed
a group of 1,000 bushmeat hunters in Cameroon and found two viruses never before
seen in humans. The researchers suspect that the viruses, called HTLV-3 and HTLV-4,
jumped to people from primates. Last year, the same team discovered that simian
foamy virus had made a similar leap.
While some of these viruses are relatively benign, others that have migrated
from primates to humans have proven to be anything but. For example, Ebola, a
deadly type of hemorrhagic fever, is believed to have originated in primates and
now haunts several regions in Africa. Last week, authorities in the Congo quarantined
two districts and confined thousands of residents to their homes to prevent an
outbreak of Ebola from spreading.
And then there is HIV, the virus believed to cause AIDS. Its viral ancestor
is believed to have originated in monkeys before leaping to chimpanzees and then
finally migrating to humans - again thanks to the bushmeat trade. Since then,
it has spread around the world, killing more than 20 million people.
Hunting primates may certainly seem distasteful to many people - especially
those in the developed world. After all, these creatures do share up to 99.4 per
cent of our DNA. But the fact is, bushmeat represents a cheap source of protein
for an impoverished people. If primates are what's available, then that's what
people will hunt.
And while the developed world may disdain hunting for primates, wealthy countries
have been implicated in a major expansion of the bushmeat trade. European fishing
fleets have been hammering fish stocks along the West Coast of Africa for years,
supported by $350 million annually in subsidies. Studies have found that, as fish
stocks have disappeared, locals have increasingly turned to bushmeat as a source
of protein. The result has been a massive reduction in the number of large mammals
- especially primates - in the area's nature reserves.
Bushmeat hunting may seem like a distant problem, but as the spread of HIV
has shown, it can affect us all. If we want to avoid the transfer of new diseases
from primates to people and protect our closest cousins, we have to work much
harder to give the people of Africa other options.
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