Bushmeat#Role in spread of diseases

The term 'bushmeat' is originally an African term for wildlife species that are hunted for human consumption, and usually refers specifically to the meat of African wildlife.{{Cite web|title=Bushmeat, explained|last=Hall|first=Jani|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/bushmeat-explained|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410195017/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/bushmeat-explained|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 10, 2021|date=2019-06-19|work=National Geographic|access-date=2022-05-18|url-access=registration}}

In October 2000, the IUCN World Conservation Congress passed a resolution on the unsustainable commercial trade in wild meat. Affected countries were urged to recognize the increasing ramifications of the bushmeat trade, to strengthen and enforce legislation, and to develop action programmes to mitigate the consequences of the trade. Donor organisations were requested to provide funding for the implementation of such programmes.{{cite book |location=Gland, Switzerland |publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |series=Occasional papers of the IUCN Species Survival Commission |isbn=9782831706382 |title=Links Between Biodiversity Conservation, Livelihoods and Food Security: The Sustainable Use of Wild Species for Meat |editor=Mainka, S. |editor2=Trivedi, M. |year=2002 |chapter=IUCN Resolution 2.64: The unsustainable commercial trade in wild meat |pages=5–6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HnbhyC0SfhIC&pg=PA5}}

Wildlife hunting for food is important for the livelihood security of and supply of dietary protein for poor people. It can be sustainable when carried out by traditional hunter-gatherers in large landscapes for their own consumption. Due to the extent of bushmeat hunting for trade in markets, the survival of those species that are large-bodied and reproduce slowly is threatened. The term bushmeat crisis was coined in 2007 and refers to this dual threat of depleting food resources and wildlife extinctions, both entailed by the bushmeat trade.

Globally, more than 1,000 animal species are estimated to be affected by hunting for bushmeat.

Bushmeat hunters use mostly leg-hold snare traps to catch any wildlife, but prefer to kill large species, as these provide a greater amount of meat than small species.{{cite journal |author1=Wilkie, D.S. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Wieland, M. |author3=Boulet, H. |author4=Le Bel, S. |author5=van Vliet, N. |author6=Cornelis, D. |author7=BriacWarnon, V. |author8=Nasi, R. |author9=Fa, J.E. |year=2016 |title=Eating and conserving bushmeat in Africa |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=402–414 |doi=10.1111/aje.12392 |bibcode=2016AfJEc..54..402W |url=http://agritrop.cirad.fr/582403/}}

File:Pangolin du Cameroun 04.jpg in Cameroon]]

File:Cricetomys gambianus-Cameroun.jpg in Cameroon]]

File:Gibier bord route.jpg

The volume of the bushmeat trade in West and Central Africa was estimated at {{convert|1-5|e6t|abbr=off}} per year at the turn of the 21st century.{{cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=G. |title=Bushmeat and international development |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=16 |issue=3 |year=2002 |pages=587–589 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.01636.x|bibcode=2002ConBi..16..587D |s2cid=83996789 }} In 2002, it was estimated that species weighing more than {{convert|10|kg|abbr=on}} contribute {{convert|177.7 ± 358.4|kg/km2|abbr=on}} of meat per year to the bushmeat extracted in the Congo Basin, based on 24 individuals. Species weighing less than {{convert|10|kg|abbr=on}} were estimated to contribute {{convert|35.4 ± 72.2|kg/km2|abbr=on}}, also based on 24 individuals. Bushmeat extraction in the Amazon rainforest was estimated to be much lower, at {{convert|3.69 ± 3.9|kg/km2|abbr=on}} in the case of species weighing more than 10 kg and {{convert|0.6 ± 0.9|kg/km2|abbr=on}} in the case of species weighing less than 10 kg, based on 3 individuals.{{cite journal|author1=Fa, J. E.|author2=Peres, C. A.|author3=Meeuwig, J.|year=2002|title=Bushmeat exploitation in tropical forests: an intercontinental comparison|journal=Conservation Biology |volume=16|issue=1|pages=232–237|doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.00275.x|pmid=35701970 |bibcode=2002ConBi..16..232F |name-list-style=amp|s2cid=55246983}}{{better source needed|date=May 2022}}

Based on these estimates, a total of {{convert|2200000|t|abbr=on}} bushmeat is extracted in the Congo Basin per year, ranging from {{convert|12938|t|abbr=on}} in Equatorial Guinea to {{convert|1665972|t|abbr=on}} in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.{{cite journal |author1=Fa, J. E. |author2=Currie, D. |author3=Meeuwig, J. |name-list-style=amp |year=2003 |title=Bushmeat and food security in the Congo Basin: linkages between wildlife and people's future |journal=Environmental Conservation |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=71–78 |doi=10.1017/S0376892903000067 |bibcode=2003EnvCo..30...71F |s2cid=84561619 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259360340}}

The 301 mammal species threatened by hunting for bushmeat comprise 126 primates, 65 even-toed ungulates, 27 bats, 26 diprotodont marsupials, 21 rodents, 12 carnivores and all pangolin species.

Primate species offered fresh and smoked in 2009 at a wildlife market by Liberia's Cavally River included chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), Diana monkey (Cercopithecus diana), putty-nosed monkey (C. nictitans), lesser spot-nosed monkey (C. petaurista), Campbell's mona monkey (C. campbelli), sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys), king colobus (Colobus polykomos), olive colobus (Procolobus verus), western red colobus (P. badius). Duiker species constituted more than half of the total 723 animals offered.{{cite journal |author1=Covey, R. |author2=McGraw, W. S. |name-list-style=amp |year=2014 |title=Monkeys in a West African bushmeat market: implications for cercopithecid conservation in eastern Liberia |journal=Tropical Conservation Science |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=115–125 |doi=10.1177/194008291400700103|doi-access=free }}

In 2012, the bushmeat trade was surveyed in three villages in the Sassandra Department, Ivory Coast. During six months, nine restaurants received 376 mammals and eight reptiles, including dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis), harnessed bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), Maxwell's duiker (Philantomba maxwellii), bay duiker (Cephalophus dorsalis), Campbell's mona monkey, lesser spot-nosed monkey, potto (Perodicticus potto), tree pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), long-tailed pangolin (P. tetradactyla), African brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus), giant pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus), greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus), striped ground squirrel (Xerus erythropus) and western tree hyrax (Dendrohyrax dorsalis).{{cite journal |author1=Bi, S. G. |author2=Koné, I. |author3=Béné, J. C. K. |author4=Bitty, E. A. |author5=Yao, K. A. |author6=Kouassi, B. A. |author7=Gaubert, P. |name-list-style=amp |year=2017 |title=Bushmeat hunting around a remnant coastal rainforest in Côte d'Ivoire |journal=Oryx |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=418–427 |doi=10.1017/S0030605315001453 |doi-access=free }}

About 128,400 straw-coloured fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) were estimated in 2011 to be traded as bushmeat every year in four cities in southern Ghana.{{cite journal |author1=Kamins, A. O. |author2=Restif, O. |author3=Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y. |author4=Suu-Ire, R. |author5=Hayman, D. T. |author6=Cunningham, A. A. |author7=Wood, J. L. |author8=Rowcliffe, J. M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2011 |title=Uncovering the fruit bat bushmeat commodity chain and the true extent of fruit bat hunting in Ghana, West Africa |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=144 |issue=12 |pages=3000–3008 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2011.09.003|pmid=22514356 |pmc=3323830 |bibcode=2011BCons.144.3000K }}

In 2006, it was estimated that about 1,437,458 animals are killed every year in the Nigerian and Cameroon parts of the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests, including about 43,880 Emin's pouched rats (Cricetomys emini), 41,800 tree pangolins, 39,700 putty-nosed monkeys, 22,500 Mona monkeys (Cercopithecus mona), 3,500 red-eared guenons (C. erythrotis), 20,300 drills (Mandrillus leucophaeus), 15,300 African civets (Civettictis civetta), 11,900 common kusimanses (Crossarchus obscurus), more than 7,600 African palm civets (Nandinia binotata), 26,760 Nile monitors (Varanus niloticus) and 410 African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis).{{cite journal |author=Fa, J. E. |author2=Seymour, S. |author3=Dupain, J. E. F. |author4=Amin, R. |author5=Albrechtsen, L. |author6=Macdonald, D. |name-list-style=amp |year=2006 |title=Getting to grips with the magnitude of exploitation: bushmeat in the Cross–Sanaga rivers region, Nigeria and Cameroon |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=129 |issue=4 |pages=497–510 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2005.11.031 |bibcode=2006BCons.129..497F |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223445717}}

File:Gorilla gorilla09.jpg in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2008]]

Between 1983 and 2002, the Gabon populations of western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) were estimated to have declined by 56%. This decline was primarily caused by the commercial hunting, which was facilitated by the extended infrastructure for logging purposes.{{cite journal |author=Walsh, P. D.; Abernethy, K. A.; Bermejo, M.; Beyers, R.; De Wachter, P.; Akou, M. E.; Huijbregts, B.; Mambounga, D. I.; Toham, A. K.; Kilbourn, A. M.;, Lahm, S.A.;, Latour. S.; Maisels, F.; Mbinak, C.; Mihindouk, Y.; Obiang, S. N.; Effa, E. N.; Starkey, M. P.; Telfer, P. M.; Thibault, M.; Tutin, C. E. G.; White, L. J. T.; Wilkie, D. S. |title=Catastrophic ape decline in western equatorial Africa |journal=Nature |volume=422 |issue=6932 |year=2003 |pages=611–614 |doi=10.1038/nature01566 |pmid=12679788 |bibcode=2003Natur.422..611W |s2cid=5905831 |url=http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/ebola_decline_congo_western_equatorial_africa_3.pdf}}

Marsh mongoose (Atilax paludinosus) and long-nosed mongoose (Herpestes naso) are the most numerous small carnivores offered in rural bushmeat markets in the country.{{cite journal |author=Bahaa-el-din, L. |author2=Henschel, P. |author3=Aba’a, R. |author4=Abernethy, K. |author5=Bohm, T. |author6=Bout, N. |author7=Coad, L. |author8=Head, J. |author9=Inoue, E. |author10=Lahm, S. |author11=Lee, M. E. |author12=Maisels, F. |author13=Rabanal, L. |author14=Starkey, M. |author15=Taylor, G. |author16=Vanthomme, A. |author17=Nakashima, Y. |author18=Hunter, L. |year=2013 |title=Notes on the distribution and status of small carnivores in Gabon |journal=Small Carnivore Conservation |issue=48 |pages=19–29 }}

In the late 1990s, fresh and smoked bonobo (Pan paniscus) carcasses were observed in Basankusu in the Province of Équateur in the Congo Basin.{{cite journal |author1=Dupain, J. |author2=Bofaso, M. |author3=Lompongo, J. |author4=Elsacker, L. V. |name-list-style=amp |year=2001 |title=Bonobos at the market of Basankusu (Equateur Province, DRC) in 1999: new evidence for bonobos between the lkelemba and Bosomba rivers |journal=Pan Africa News |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=24–26 |url=https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/143400/1/PAN8(2)_24.pdf|doi=10.5134/143400 |doi-access=free }}

The main species killed by bushmeat hunters in Tanzania's Katavi-Rukwa Region include impala (Aepyceros melampus), common duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia), warthog (Phacocherus africanus), Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer), harnessed bushbuck, red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus) and plains zebra (Equus quagga).{{cite journal |author1=Martin, A. |author2=Caro, T. |name-list-style=amp |year=2013 |title=Illegal hunting in the Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=172–175 |doi=10.1111/aje.12000|bibcode=2013AfJEc..51..172M }}

File:Lemur poaching 001.jpgs killed in Madagascar for bushmeat]]

A survey in a rural area in southwestern Madagascar revealed that bushmeat hunters target bushpig (Potamochoerus larvatus), ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), Hubbard's sportive lemur (Lepilemur hubbardorum), fat-tailed dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus medius), common tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus), grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus), reddish-gray mouse lemur (M. griseorufus), Madagascan fruit bat (Eidolon dupreanum) and Madagascan flying fox (Pteropus rufus).{{cite journal |author1=Gardner, C.J. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Davies, Z.G. |year=2014 |title=Rural bushmeat consumption within multiple-use protected areas: qualitative evidence from southwest Madagascar |journal=Human Ecology |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=21–34 |doi=10.1007/s10745-013-9629-1 |bibcode=2014HumEc..42...21G |s2cid=154683918 }}

File:Hunted Silky Sifakas.jpg

Logging concessions operated by companies in African forests have been closely linked to the bushmeat trade. Because they provide roads, trucks and other access to remote forests, they are the primary means for the transportation of hunters and meat between forests and urban centres. Some, including the Congolaise Industrielle du Bois (CIB) in the Republic of Congo, partnered with governments and international conservation organizations to regulate the bushmeat trade within the concessions where they operate. Numerous solutions are needed; because each country has different circumstances, traditions and laws, no one solution will work in every location.{{cite journal |author1=Poulsen, J. R. |author2=Clark, C. J. |author3=Mavah, G. |author4=Elkan, P. W. |name-list-style=amp |year=2009 |title=Bushmeat supply and consumption in a tropical logging concession in northern Congo |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=23 |issue=6 |pages=1597–1608 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01251.x |pmid=19459888 |bibcode=2009ConBi..23.1597P |s2cid=42668922 |url=https://www.tropicalecology.us/uploads/1/9/3/6/19363955/poulsen_et_al._2009_consbio.pdf |access-date=2019-12-26 |archive-date=2019-12-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226170333/https://www.tropicalecology.us/uploads/1/9/3/6/19363955/poulsen_et_al._2009_consbio.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Bushmeat can be an important source of micronutrients and macronutrients. A study of South Americans in the Tres Fronteras region found that those who consumed bushmeat were at a lower risk of anemia and chronic health conditions, as their diets included more iron, zinc, and vitamin C than those who did not eat bushmeat.{{cite journal|doi=10.1146/annurev-environ-102016-060827|doi-access=free|title=The Harvest of Tropical Wildlife for Bushmeat and Traditional Medicine|year=2020|last1=Lee|first1=Tien Ming|last2=Sigouin|first2=Amanda|last3=Pinedo-Vasquez|first3=Miguel|last4=Nasi|first4=Robert|journal=Annual Review of Environment and Resources|volume=45|pages=145–170}}

In Ghana, international illegal over-exploitation of African fishing grounds has increased demand for bushmeat. Both European Union-subsidized fleets and local commercial fleets have depleted fish stocks, leaving local people to supplement their diets with animals hunted from nature reserves. Over 30 years of data link sharp declines in both mammal populations and the biomass of 41 wildlife species with a decreased supply of fish.{{cite journal |last1=Brashares |first1=J. S. |last2=Arcese | first2=P. |last3=Sam |first3=M. K. |last4=Coppolillo | first4=P. B. |last5=Sinclair |first5=A. R. E. |last6=Balmford | first6=A. |s2cid=51325711 |name-list-style=amp |title=Bushmeat hunting, wildlife declines, and fish supply in West Africa |journal=Science |year=2004 |volume=306 |issue=5699 |pages=1180–1183 |doi=10.1126/science.1102425 |pmid=15539602 |bibcode=2004Sci...306.1180B }}

Consumption of fish and of bushmeat is correlated: the decline of one resource drives up the demand and price for the other.

Transhumant pastoralists from the border area between Sudan and the Central African Republic are accompanied by armed merchants who also engage in poaching large herbivores. The decline of giant eland, Cape buffalo, hartebeest and waterbuck in the Chinko area between 2012 and 2017 is attributed to their poaching activities. They use livestock to transport bushmeat to markets.{{cite journal |author1=Äbischer, T. |author2=Ibrahim, T. |author3=Hickisch, R. |author4=Furrer, R. D. |name-list-style=amp |author5=Leuenberger, C. |author6=Wegmann, D. |year=2020 |title=Apex predators decline after an influx of pastoralists in former Central African Republic hunting zones |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=241 |page=108326 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108326 |bibcode=2020BCons.24108326A |s2cid=213766740 |url=https://doc.rero.ch/record/328409/files/weg_apd.pdf}}

{{see|Zoonotic disease}}

File:Armillifer grandis.tif as found in a Rhinoceros viper sold for human consumption]]

Animal sources may have been the cause for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, leprosy, cholera, smallpox, measles, influenza, and syphilis acquired by early agrarians. The emergence of HIV-1, AIDS, Ebola virus disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease are attributed to animal sources today.

Thomas's rope squirrel (Funisciurus anerythrus) and red-legged sun squirrel (Heliosciurus rufobrachium) were found to carry MPXV in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1980s.{{cite journal |last1=Khodakevich |first1=L. |last2=Szczeniowski | first2 = M. |last3=Manbu-ma-Disu |last4=Jezek |first4=Z. |last5=Marennikova |first5=S. |last6=Nakano |first6=J. | last7= Messinger |first7=D. |name-list-style=amp |year=1987 |title=The role of squirrels in sustaining mpox virus transmission |pmid=2820094 |journal=Tropical and Geographical Medicine |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=115–122}}

Outbreaks of the Ebola virus in the Congo Basin and in Gabon in the 1990s have been associated with the butchering and consumption of chimpanzees and bonobos. Bushmeat hunters in Central Africa infected with the human T-lymphotropic virus were closely exposed to wild primates.{{cite journal |author=Wolfe, N. D. |author2=Heneine, W. |author3=Carr, J. K. |author4=Garcia, A. D. |author5=Shanmugam, V. |author6=Tamoufe, U. |author7=Torimiro, J. N. |author8=Prosser, A. T. |author9=Lebreton, M. |author10=Mpoudi-Ngole, E. |author11=McCutchan, F. E. |author12=Birx, D. L. |author13=Folks, T. M. |author14=Burke, D. S. |author15=Switzer, W. M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2005 |title=Emergence of unique primate T-lymphotropic viruses among central African bushmeat hunters |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=102 |issue=22 |pages=7994–7999 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0501734102 |pmid=15911757 |pmc=1142377 |bibcode=2005PNAS..102.7994W |doi-access=free}}

Anthrax can be transmitted when butchering and eating ungulates. The risk of bloodborne diseases to be transmitted is higher when butchering a carcass than when transporting, cooking and eating it.{{cite journal |author1=Wolfe, N. D. |author2=Daszak, P. |author3=Kilpatrick, A. M. |author4=Burke, D. S. |name-list-style=amp |date=2005 |title=Bushmeat hunting, deforestation, and prediction of zoonotic disease |journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases |volume=11 |issue=12 |pages=1822–1827 |doi=10.3201/eid1112.040789 |pmc=3367616 |pmid=16485465}}

Many hunters and traders are not aware of zoonosis and the risks of disease transmissions.{{Cite journal |pmid=23408099 |year=2012 |last1=Subramanian |first1=M. |title=Zoonotic disease risk and the bushmeat trade: Assessing awareness among hunters and traders in Sierra Leone |journal=EcoHealth |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=471–482 |doi=10.1007/s10393-012-0807-1 |s2cid=22594553 |url=http://www.tacugama.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Subramanian_2014_Zoonotic-disease-risk-and-bushmeat-trade-in-SL.pdf}}

An interview survey in rural communities in Nigeria revealed that 55% of the respondents knew of zoonoses, but their education and cultural traditions are important drivers for hunting and eating bushmeat despite the risks involved.{{cite journal |author1=Friant, S. |author2=Paige, S. B. |author3=Goldberg, T. L. |name-list-style=amp |title=Drivers of bushmeat hunting and perceptions of zoonoses in Nigerian hunting communities |year=2015 |journal=PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |volume=9 |issue=5 |page=e0003792 |doi=10.1371/journal.pntd.0003792|pmid=26001078 |pmc=4441483 |doi-access=free}}

Results of research on wild chimpanzees in Cameroon indicate that they are naturally infected with the simian foamy virus and constitute a reservoir of HIV-1, a precursor of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in humans.{{cite journal |last1=Keele |first1=B. F. |last2=Van Heuverswyn |first2=F. |last3=Li |first3=Y. |last4 = Bailes | first4 = E. | last5 = Takehisa | first5 = J. |last6=Santiago |first6=M. L. |last7=Bibollet-Ruche |first7=F. |last8=Chen |first8=Y. |last9=Wain | first9=L. V. |last10=Liegeois |first10=F. |last11=Loul |first11=S. |last12=Ngole |first12=E. M. |last13=Bienvenue |first13=Y. |last14=Delaporte |first14=E. |last15=Brookfield |first15=J. F. |last16=Sharp |first16=P. M. |last17=Shaw | first17=G. M. |last18=Peeters |first18=M. |last19=Hahn |first19=B. H. |name-list-style=amp |year=2006 |title=Chimpanzee reservoirs of pandemic and nonpandemic HIV-1 |journal=Science |volume=313 |issue=5786 |pages=523–526 |doi=10.1126/science.1126531 |pmid=16728595 |pmc=2442710 |bibcode=2006Sci...313..523K}} There are several distinct strains of HIV, indicating that this cross-species transfer has occurred several times.{{cite journal |last1=Sharp |first1=P. M. |last2=Hahn |first2=B. H. |name-list-style=amp |year=2011 |title=Origins of HIV and the AIDS Pandemic |journal=Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine |volume=1 |issue=1 | pages=a006841–a006835 |doi=10.1101/cshperspect.a006841 |pmid=22229120 |pmc=3234451}}

Simian immunodeficiency virus present in chimpanzees is reportedly derived from older strains of the virus present in the collared mangabey (Cercocebus torquatus) and the putty-nosed monkey. It is likely that HIV was initially transferred to humans after having come into contact with infected bushmeat.{{Cite journal |last1=Arts |first1=E. J. |last2=Tebit |first2=D. M. |name-list-style=amp |date=2011 |title=Tracking a century of global expansion and evolution of HIV to drive understanding and to combat disease |journal=The Lancet Infectious Diseases |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=45–56 |doi=10.1016/S1473-3099(10)70186-9 |pmid=21126914 |citeseerx=10.1.1.964.6074}}

The natural reservoirs of ebolaviruses are unknown.{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/about.html| title=What is Ebola Virus Disease?| website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention| date=5 November 2019| access-date=25 March 2021}}{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.aogh.2015.02.005 |title=Transmission of Ebola Virus Disease: An Overview |year=2015 |last1=Rewar |first1=S. |last2=Mirdha |first2=D. |journal=Annals of Global Health |volume=80 |issue=6 |pages=444–451 |pmid=25960093 |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |doi=10.1146/annurev-pathol-052016-100506 |title=The Pathogenesis of Ebola Virus Disease |year=2017 |last1=Baseler |first1=L. |last2=Chertow |first2=D. S.|last3=Johnson |first3=K. M. |last4=Feldmann |first4=H. |last5=Morens |first5=D. M.|journal=Annual Review of Pathology: Mechanisms of Disease |volume=12 |pages=387–418 |pmid=27959626 |doi-access=free}} Possible reservoirs include non-human primates, megabats, rodents, shrews, carnivores, and ungulates.{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/mam.12074|quote=We found published evidence from cases of serological and/or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positivity of EVD in non- human mammal, or of EVD-linked mortality, in 28 mammal species: 10 primates, three rodents, one shrew, eight bats, one carnivore, and five ungulates|title=Mammalian biogeography and the Ebola virus in Africa |year=2017 |last1=Olivero |first1=J. |last2=Fa |first2=J. E. |last3=Real |first3=R. |last4=Farfán |first4=M. Á. |last5=Márquez |first5=A. L. |last6=Vargas |first6=J. M. |last7=Gonzalez |first7=J. P. |last8=Cunningham|first8=A. A. |last9=Nasi |first9=R. |journal=Mammal Review |volume=47 |pages=24–37 |url=https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/611996/2/Olivero%20et%20al%202016%20Mammal%20biogeography%20and%20the%20Ebola%20virus%20MamRev-1.pdf}}

Between October 2001 and December 2003, five Ebola virus outbreaks occurred in the border area between Gabon and Republic of Congo. Autopsies of wildlife carcasses showed that chimpanzees, gorillas and bay duikers were infected with the virus.{{cite journal |author=Rouquet, P. |author2=Froment, J. |author3=Bermejo, M. |author4=Kilbourne, A. |author5=Karesh, W. |author6=Reed, P. |author7=Kumulungui, B. |author8=Yaba, P. |author9=Délicat, A. |author10=Rollin, P. E. |author11=Leroy, E. M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2005 |title=Wild animal mortality monitoring and human Ebola outbreaks, Gabon and Republic of Congo, 2001–2003 |journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=283–290 |doi=10.3201/eid1102.040533 |pmc=3320460 |pmid=15752448}}

The Ebola virus has been linked to bushmeat, with some researchers hypothesizing that megabats are a primary host of at least some variants of Ebola virus. Between the first recorded outbreak in 1976 and the largest in 2014, the virus has transferred from animals to humans only 30 times, despite large numbers of bats being killed and sold each year. Bats drop partially eaten fruits and pulp, then terrestrial mammals such as gorillas and duikers feed on these fruits. This chain of events forms a possible indirect means of transmission from the natural host to animal populations.{{cite book |author1=Leroy, E. |author2=Gonzalez, J. P. |author3=Pourrut, X. |chapter=Ebolavirus and Other Filoviruses |name-list-style=amp |pages=363–387 |title=Wildlife and Emerging Zoonotic Diseases: The Biology, Circumstances and Consequences of Cross-Species Transmission |volume=315 |editor1=Childs, J. E. |editor2=Mackenzie, J. S. |editor3=Richt, J. A. |year=2007 |pmid=17848072 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-70962-6_15 |isbn=978-3-540-70961-9 |series=Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |pmc=7121322 |chapter-url=}}

The suspected index case for the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa in 2014 was a two-year-old boy in Meliandou in south-eastern Guinea, who played in a hollow tree harbouring a colony of Angolan free-tailed bats (Mops condylurus).{{cite journal |author=Saéz, A. M. |author2=Weiss, S. |author3=Nowak, K. |author4=Lapeyre, V. |author5=Zimmermann, F. |author6=Düx, A. |author7=Kühl, H. S. |author8=Kaba, M. |author9=Regnaut, S. |author10=Merkel, K. |author11=Sachse, A. |author12=Thiesen, U. |author13=Villányi, L. |author14=Boesch, C. |author15=Dabrowski, P. W. |author16=Radonić, A. |author17=Nitsche, A. |author18=Leendertz, S. A. J. |author19=Petterson, S. |author20=Becker, S. |author21=Krähling, V. |author22=Couacy-Hymann, E. |author23=Akoua-Koffi, C. |author24=Weber, N. |author25=Schaade, L. |author26=Fahr, J. |author27=Borchert, M. |author28=Gogarten, J. F. |author29=Calvignac-Spencer, S. |author30=Leendertz, F. H. |name-list-style=amp |title=Investigating the zoonotic origin of the West African Ebola epidemic |journal=EMBO Molecular Medicine |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=17–23 |date=2014 |doi=10.15252/emmm.201404792 |pmid=25550396 |pmc=4309665}}

Results of a study conducted during the Ebola crisis in Liberia showed that socio-economic conditions affected bushmeat consumption. During the crisis, there was a decrease in bushmeat consumption and daily meal frequency. In addition, preferences for bushmeat species stayed the same.{{Cite journal |last1=Ordaz-Németh |first1=I. |last2=Arandjelovic |first2=M. |last3=Boesch |first3=L. |last4=Gatiso |first4=T. |last5=Grimes |first5=T. |last6=Kuehl |first6=H. S. |last7=Lormie |first7=M. |last8=Stephens |first8=C. |last9=Tweh |first9=C. |name-list-style=amp |date=2017 |title=The socio-economic drivers of bushmeat consumption during the West African Ebola crisis |journal=PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=e0005450 |doi=10.1371/journal.pntd.0005450 |pmid=28282378 |pmc=5362244 |doi-access=free}}

In Cameroon, 15 primate species were examined for gastrointestinal parasites. Bushmeat primates were infected with Trichuris, Entamoeba, Ascaris, Capillaria, pinworms, Bertiella and Endolimax nana.{{cite journal |author1=Pourrut, X. |author2=Diffo, J. L. D. |author3=Somo, R. M. |author4=Bilong, C. B. |author5=Delaporte, E. |author6=LeBreton, M. |author7=Gonzalez, J. P. |name-list-style=amp |year=2011 |title=Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in primate bushmeat and pets in Cameroon |journal=Veterinary Parasitology |volume=175 |issue=1–2 |pages=187–191 |doi=10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.09.023 |pmid=20970258}}

A large proportion of Bitis vipers sold at rural bushmeat markets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are infected by Armillifer grandis, which represent a threat to public health.{{cite journal |last1=Hardi| first1=R. |last2=Babocsay |first2=G. |last3=Tappe |first3=D. |last4=Sulyok |first4=M. |last5=Bodó |first5=I. |last6=Rózsa |first6=L. |name-list-style=amp |year=2017 |title=Armillifer-infected snakes sold at Congolese bushmeat markets represent an emerging zoonotic threat |journal=EcoHealth |volume=14 |issue=4 |url=http://www.zoologia.hu/list/2017_bushmeat.pdf |pages=743–749 |doi=10.1007/s10393-017-1274-5 |pmid=29030787 |pmc=7088293}}

Suggestions for reducing or halting bushmeat harvest and trade include:{{Cite journal |author=Wilkie, D. S. |last2=Wieland |first2=M. |author3=Boulet, H. |author4=Le Bel, S. |author5=van Vliet, N. |author6=Cornelis, D. |author7=BriacWarnon, V. |author8=Nasi, R. |author9=Fa, J. E. |name-list-style=amp |date=2016 |title=Eating and conserving bushmeat in Africa |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=402–414 |doi=10.1111/aje.12392 |bibcode=2016AfJEc..54..402W |url=http://agritrop.cirad.fr/582403/1/Wilkie_et_al-2016-African_Journal_of_Ecology.pdf}}

• increase access of consumers to affordable and reliable alternative sources of animal protein such as chicken, small livestock and farmed fish raised at family level;
• devolve rights and authority over wildlife to local communities;
• strengthen the management of protected areas and enforce wildlife conservation laws.

As an alternative to bushmeat, captive breeding of species traditionally harvested from the wild is sometimes feasible. Captive breeding efforts must be closely monitored, as there is risk they can be used to launder and legitimize individuals captured from the wild, similar to the laundering of wild green tree pythons in Indonesia for the pet trade.

• Cat meat
• Dog meat
• Game – animals hunted for food
• Indigenous cuisine of the Americas
• Malnutrition
• Roadkill cuisine
• Wildlife trafficking and emerging zoonotic diseases
• Yewei – wildlife meat sold at Chinese wet markets
• {{portal-inline|Food}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite web |url=http://www.bushmeat.net/ |title=The Bushmeat Project |website=Biosynergy Institute}}
• {{cite web |url=https://www.4apes.com/working-groups/bushmeat |title=Bushmeat |website=Ape Alliance – Action for Apes}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.traffic.org/ |title=Action on wildlife trade |website=Traffic}}
• {{cite news |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/people-are-hunting-primates-bats-and-other-mammals-extinction |title=People are hunting primates, bats, and other mammals to extinction |first= E. |last=Pennisi |author-link=Elizabeth Pennisi |date=2016 |newspaper=Science |access-date=May 26, 2017}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/understanding-the-bushmeat-market-why-do-people-risk-infection-from-bat-meat |title=Understanding the bushmeat market: why do people risk infection from bat meat?|website=Research News |publisher=University of Cambridge |date=2014}}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/239123/icode/ |title=FAO warns of fruit bat risk in West African Ebola epidemic |newspaper=Food and Agriculture Organisation News |date=2014}}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/programmes/en/empres/news_151010.html|title=Bushmeat consumption, wildlife trade and global public health risks |newspaper=Food and Agriculture Organisation News |date=2010}}
• {{cite news |url=https://foodlve.com/what-does-elephant-meat-taste-like/|title=What does Elephant Meat Taste Like? |newspaper=Foodlve Blog |date=2023}}

{{Natural resources}}

{{Meat}}

{{Apes}}

Category:Meat

Category:Environmental issues with forests

Category:Environmental crime

Category:Bushfood