title: Impacts of hunting on tropical forests in Southeast Asia.
abstract: Although deforestation and forest degradation have long been considered the most significant threats to tropical biodiversity, across Southeast Asia (Northeast India, Indochina, Sundaland, Philippines) substantial areas of natural habitat have few wild animals (>1 kg), bar a few hunting-tolerant species. To document hunting impacts on vertebrate populations regionally, we conducted an extensive literature review, including papers in local journals and reports of governmental and nongovernmental agencies. Evidence from multiple sites indicated animal populations declined precipitously across the region since approximately 1980, and many species are now extirpated from substantial portions of their former ranges. Hunting is by far the greatest immediate threat to the survival of most of the region's endangered vertebrates. Causes of recent overhunting include improved access to forests and markets, improved hunting technology, and escalating demand for wild meat, wildlife-derived medicinal products, and wild animals as pets. Although hunters often take common species, such as pigs or rats, for their own consumption, they take rarer species opportunistically and sell surplus meat and commercially valuable products. There is also widespread targeted hunting of high-value species. Consequently, as currently practiced, hunting cannot be considered sustainable anywhere in the region, and in most places enforcement of protected-area and protected-species legislation is weak. The international community's focus on cross-border trade fails to address overexploitation of wildlife because hunting and the sale of wild meat is largely a local issue and most of the harvest is consumed in villages, rural towns, and nearby cities. In addition to improved enforcement, efforts to engage hunters and manage wildlife populations through sustainable hunting practices are urgently needed. Unless there is a step change in efforts to reduce wildlife exploitation to sustainable levels, the region will likely lose most of its iconic species, and many others besides, within the next few years.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Heilongtan, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China. r.harrison@cgiar.org.|World Agroforestry Centre, East & Southern Africa Region, 13 Elm Road, Woodlands, Lusaka, Zambia. r.harrison@cgiar.org.
authors.forename: Rhett D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China.|School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia.
authors.forename: Rachakonda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sreekar
authors.affiliation: Departments of Zoology and Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T1Z4, Canada.
authors.forename: Jedediah F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Brodie
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Conservation Society, Cambodia Program, P.O. Box 1620, House 21, Street 21, Phenom Penh, Cambodia.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brook
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California at Berkeley, 130 Mulford Hall, #3114 Berkeley, CA, 94720, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luskin
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Conservation Society, Cambodia Program, P.O. Box 1620, House 21, Street 21, Phenom Penh, Cambodia.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: O'Kelly
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Conservation Society, SE Asia Program, 14 Science Drive 4, 11743, Singapore.|Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, 11743, Singapore.
authors.forename: Madhu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Brett
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Scheffers
authors.affiliation: Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science and College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns, Qld, 4878, Australia.
authors.forename: Nandini
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Velho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001210:Asia, Southeastern; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D056727:Endangered Species; D065928:Forests; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D010679:Philippines; D051381:Rats; D013552:Swine; D014329:Tropical Climate
keywords: aplicación; bosque tropical; bushmeat; carne de animales silvestres; carne silvestre; defaunación; defaunation; enforcement; extinción; extinction; extirpación; extirpation; mercado de vida silvestre; overexploitation; sobreexplotación; tropical forest; wild meat; wildlife trade