Great Ape Conservation in Central Africa: Addressing the Bushmeat Crisis

Heather E. Eves
Bushmeat Crisis Task Force, 8403 Colesville Road, Suite 710, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Heves@aza.org

Elizabeth A. Gordon
School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, 205 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511
elizabeth.gordon@yale.edu

Julie T. Stein
Bushmeat Crisis Task Force, 8403 Colesville Road, Suite 710, Silver Spring, MD 20910
JScabin@aol.com

Tim W. Clark
Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 301 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511 and Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative, Box 2705, Jackson, WY 83001
timothy.w.clark@yale.edu


Abstract
The commercial trade in bushmeat presents an immediate and rapidly growing threat to Africa's
great apes and other wildlife. Unresolved, this trade risks extinction of many ape populations
within 10 to 20 years. Although great apes, including gorillas (Gorilla gorilla ssp.), chimpanzees
(Pan troglodytes ssp.), and bonobos (Pan paniscus), make up only one to four percent of the widespread
trade in wildlife, they are a key focus of this problem for a variety of cultural, economic,
ecological, political, medical, and ethical reasons. A solution to the bushmeat crisis requires changing
the outcome of many existing decision processes involving diverse participants. This requires a
multilateral and interdisciplinary effort to find and support actions that are appropriate, effective,
and respect each nation's decision-making authority. This paper examines the decision process for
this issue and recommends ways to resolve the problem, including information coordination, development
of nutritional and economic alternatives for urban people, and public awareness campaigns
across Africa and the world.