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Africa: Wild Meat Is Eaten By Millions, but Puts Billions At Risk - How to Manage the Trade
The Conversation Africa, 9 April 2025
One of the most pressing issues of our time is the wild meat trade. Why? Because it's consumed by millions and puts billions at risk from emerging diseases. It provides food and… Read more »
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Africa: Stopping Mpox - Wild Meat Markets Are a Root Cause and Must Be Made Safer
The Conversation Africa, 5 November 2024
In many countries around the world, wild animals are sometimes killed for food, including monkeys, rats and squirrels. Read more »
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Nigeria: Mpox - Experts Identify Bushmeat Trade As Key Factor
Premium Times, 11 November 2024
Africa's annual wild meat harvest ranges from 1-5 million metric tonnes, compared to its 14 million metric tonnes of livestock production. Read more »
Can We Tame the Dangerous Global Wild Meat Trade?
The global wild meat trade, a crucial source of food and income for millions, especially in Africa and Asia, poses a significant risk to biodiversity, public health, and ecosystems. The wildlife trade and so-called wet markets, where the animals and meat are often sold, also facilitate the spillover of zoonotic diseases like Ebola and HIV from animals to humans.
A landmark study led by experts from the International Livestock Research Institute shifted the focus from hunters to consumers, analyzing how wild meat consumption drove disease emergence, biodiversity loss, and illegal markets. Wild meat provides vital protein for rural communities, especially where livestock is inaccessible. Its continued extraction, exacerbated by climate change, is causing "empty forests" and threatening endangered species.
The study recommended solutions, including sustainable alternatives (such as mini-livestock), behavioral interventions, and subsidies instead of punitive bans.
InFocus
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Namibia plans to cull 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants, as part of a drought relief program to Read more »
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According to a study by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), 70% of mammal species protected under the CMS are used for wild meat con Read more »
A Liberian farmer brought this Nile Monitor lizard to the 2007 agricultural fair to sell. While bush meat such as this was not a formal part of the fair, it continues to be a part of local subsistence economies.
