The Red-shanked Douc Langur, an Asian colobine monkey found in Viet Nam and Laos, which is threatened by hunting for food and for body parts.

Forest mammals are an important source of protein for people across Asia, Africa and South America, but are increasingly under threat.

With road building and the spread of shotguns and wire snares, hunting is becoming more prevalent, making the bushmeat trade a greater threat to forest wildlife than deforestation. In West and Central Africa alone, for example, it's estimated that one million tonnes of forest animals are killed for meat each year.

In this article, John Whitfield reports on how conservationists are exploring the use of ecological models to manage the bushmeat trade. It appears that science can't solve the problem alone, but those involved are adamant that it is part of the solution.

Link to Nature feature article

Reference: Nature 421, 8 (2003)

See also:

Animal conservation 'must put people first', 10 April 2002
Africa's vanishing apes, 13 January 2002

Photo credit: © Bill Konstant