Use of game fauna by Fulni-ô people in Northeastern Brazil: implications for conservation

Use of wild vertebrates for consumption and bushmeat trade in Brazil: a review

BACKGROUND

Bushmeat is a resource exploited by thousands of people around the world, especially in tropical and neotropical regions, constituting an important source of protein and income. But what is known, so far, about the consumption and trade of wild vertebrate meat (hereinafter "bushmeat") in a megadiverse country like Brazil? This question was answered through a systematic survey of publications on the consumption and trade of wild vertebrate meat made in Brazil between 2011 and 2021.

METHODS

We selected 63 scientific articles available on "Google Scholar," "Science Direct," "Scopus," " Web of Science" and "Portal de Periódico da CAPES." The articles were categorized as: exclusive to (1) consumption or (2) bushmeat trade, totals of 54 and three articles, respectively; both (3) consumption and trade bushmeat, totaling six articles. We applied a nonparametric Spearman's correlation analysis to verify the association between the number of papers and the species richness of wild vertebrates cited for consumption by Brazilian state.

RESULTS

The results revealed that the publications were concentrated in the Northeast (36), North (26) and Southeast (1) regions, distributed across 16 states of the federation. These data reinforce the need for more researches in states and other regions of the country. Our research hypothesis was confirmed, since the richness of species cited for meat consumption was positively associated with the amount of work carried out by the states of the federation. We identified a total of 321 species of wild vertebrates mentioned in the categories involving the consumption of bushmeat. We had a greater bird species richness mentioned for consumption (170) to the detriment of mammals (107), reptiles (40) and amphibians (4). Furthermore, in the articles involving the bushmeat trade categories we had 57 species of vertebrates mentioned, with mammals being the most representative in terms of species richness (29), to the detriment of birds (20) and reptiles (8). These data reinforce that birds and mammals have been the groups most used both for consumption and trade in bushmeat in the country's regions, and it is necessary to mitigate the hunting exploitation of these groups. We recorded that socioeconomic, biological, environmental and sociocultural factors were the most cited predictors of the consumption and trade of bushmeat in the articles. We identified that the bushmeat trade chain is dynamic and ramified, made up of several actors, including specialized and diversified hunters, intermediaries, market sellers, market vendors, restaurant owners and final customers. Public markets and open-air fairs were the most cited places for buying and selling wild meat in commerce.

CONCLUSIONS

In general, our results indicate that we have made significant advances in publications on the consumption and trade of bushmeat in Brazil over the last few years. However, we highlight the need to better understand the patterns of consumption and trade of bushmeat in different regions of the country, as well as the factors associated with the dynamics of the trade chain and uses of wildlife by local communities. We emphasized that a multidimensional understanding of hunting activities is important to face socio-ecological problems and improve the conservation of target species which have continually been explored for uses by populations in different regions of the world.

Influence of the sociodemographic profile of hunters on the knowledge and use of faunistic resources

BACKGROUND

Hunting wild animals is essential for nutrition, clothing, predator control and disease treatment. As part of a system based on food choices and uses, it is influenced by ecological, economic and sociocultural patterns. In this context, the aim is to identify the game fauna of interest in the Brazilian semiarid region; indicate the methods, uses, patterns of choices and cultural importance of the fauna and identify which sociodemographic variables influence the knowledge and use of faunal resources.

METHODS

Information on hunting and fauna use was obtained through semi-structured interviews, complemented with free interviews and informal conversations. The cultural importance of the species was calculated through the current use value. The generalized linear model was created to verify whether the sociodemographic profile of hunters influences the knowledge and use of game species.

RESULTS

The results showed a representativeness of 56 species. The group of birds was the most representative in terms of taxonomic richness (48.2%), followed by the group of mammals (26.8%), reptiles (21.4%) and amphibians (3.6%). The animals mentioned are used for food, trade, control hunting (slaughter of animals considered invaders of property or harmful to humans), pets, zootherapy and ornamentation. Sociodemographic variables shaped the knowledge of faunal resources, in which the age of hunters showed a negative correlation with the number of known species.

CONCLUSIONS

The meaning and forms of use attributed to each species depend on ecological, economic and sociocultural factors, which dictate the relationship between human communities and natural resources. Socioeconomic variables shape hunting patterns in all its aspects, whether in perception that hunters have of the resources, forms of use and utilization of hunting strategies.

CACERÍA EN UNA COMUNIDAD CAMPESINA DE LA SIERRA DE HUAUTLA, MORELOS, MÉXICO

La Reserva de la Biosfera Sierra de Huautla es un reservorio de biodiversidad del trópico seco mexicano. Las comunidades campesinas que la habitan históricamente han aprovechado los recursos naturales para su subsistencia, entre ellos la fauna silvestre. Con el objetivo de caracterizar las prácticas de cacería en la comunidad de Pitzotlán, Morelos, se aplicaron entrevistas a diez campesinos locales, así como observación participante, recorridos guiados y registro de la caza durante siete meses. Se registraron 37 especies de fauna con valor de uso, principalmente para alimento (57 %), disminuir daños agropecuarios (49 %) y en la medicina tradicional (27 %). De septiembre de 2018 a marzo de 2019 se contabilizó la captura de 70 individuos pertenecientes a 17 especies en 41 eventos de cacería. Las especies con mayor porcentaje de individuos capturados fueron iguana negra Ctenosaura pectinata (19 %), huilota Zenaida spp. (19 %), tejon Nasua narica (14 %), venado Odocoileus virginianus (10 %) y tortola Columbina inca (9 %). Se estimó un total de 278,93 kg de biomasa consumida, el 80 % aportada por el venado cola blanca. La cacería se realizó en un radio de 3.5 km del entorno comunitario, por medio de “espiadas”, “arreadas”, “acorralamiento”, “lampareadas”, el uso de perros y en eventos oportunistas. La cacería es una actividad complementaria a las estrategias de subsistencia de la comunidad estudiada, cuyo arraigo cultural permite obtener bienes materiales, el esparcimiento y la socialización.