Abstract
The growing dependence of villagers on local forests (food, wood, etc.) makes the comparative assessment of the perceptions they have of the forest and its wildlife increasingly important for setting conservation priorities. While hunting and habitat loss are important threats to primates’ existence worldwide, more attention has been focused on diurnal species, while little is known about their nocturnal counterparts. Strepsirrhini is a group of nocturnal primates with galago and potto as the only representatives on mainland Africa. To assess the perception of locals and their impacts on the conservation of these primates, questionnaires were administered to 79 household heads in four villages located in community forests around Mount Cameroon National Park. Amongst the respondents, over 90% admitted that these animals are eaten in their communities. Nocturnal primates were not only hunted for food, but also used in medicine and rituals and to make drums. However, the habit of eating nocturnal primates seems to be uncommon, as most respondents had not consumed any primate bushmeat in the last 5 years. The knowledge and support of wildlife conservation manifested by the villagers did not reflect the reality on the ground, as forest clearing for agriculture takes place regularly across the villages. Our findings suggest that bushmeat is not the main threat to nocturnal primates in this area, with habitat loss potentially representing a bigger problem for their existence in the near future.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alves RR, Souto WM, Barboza RR (2010) Primates in traditional folk medicine: a world overview. Mamm Rev 40(2):155–180
Anadu PA, Elamah PO, Oates JF (1988) The bushmeat trade in southwestern Nigeria: a case study. Hum Ecol 16(2):199–208
Ávila E, Tagg N, Willie J, Mbohli D, Farfán MÁ, Vargas JM, Fa JE (2019) Interpreting long-term trends in bushmeat harvest in southeast Cameroon. Acta Oecologica 94:57–65
Barelli C, Palacios JF, Rovero F (2014) Variation in primate abundance along an elevational gradient in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania. High altitude primates. Springer, New York, pp 211–226
Bearder ST, Martin RD (1980) The social organization of a nocturnal primate revealed by radio tracking. A handbook on biotelemetry and radio tracking. Pergamon, Oxford, pp 633–648
Bezanson M, McNamara A (2019) The what and where of primate field research may be failing primate conservation. Evol Anthropol 28:166–178
Bloomfield LS, McIntosh TL, Lambin EF (2020) Habitat fragmentation, livelihood behaviors, and contact between people and nonhuman primates in Africa. Landsc Ecol 35(4):985–1000
Bowen-Jones E, Pendry S (1999a) The threat to primates and other mammals from the bushmeat trade in Africa, and how this threat could be diminished 1. Oryx 33(3):233–246
Bowen-Jones E, Pendry S (1999b) The threat to primates and other mammals from the bushmeat trade in Africa, and how this threat could be diminished. Oryx 33(3):233–246
Brashares JS, Arcese P, Sam MK, Coppolillo PB, Sinclair AR, Balmford A (2004) Bushmeat hunting, wildlife declines, and fish supply in West Africa. Science 306(5699):1180–1183
Brashares JS, Golden CD, Weinbaum KZ, Barrett CB, Okello GV (2011) Economic and geographic drivers of wildlife consumption in rural Africa. Proc Natl Acad Sci 108(34):13931–13936
Burgin CJ, Colella JP, Kahn PL, Upham NS (2018) How many species of mammals are there? J Mamm 99(1):1–14
Campera M, Santini L, Balestri M, Nekaris KAI, Donati G (2020) Elevation gradients of lemur abundance emphasise the importance of Madagascar’s lowland rainforest for the conservation of endemic taxa. Mamm Rev 50(1):25–37
Chapman CA, Russo SE (2007) Primate seed dispersal. Primate Perspect 2007:510–525
del Valle YG, Ruan-Soto F, Guerrero-Martínez F, Reyes-Escutia F (2020) Local knowledge and cultural significance of primates (Ateles geoffroyi and Alouatta pigra) among Lacandon Maya from Chiapas, Mexico. Neotropical ethnoprimatology. Springer, Cham, pp 49–68
Effiom EO, Nunez-Iturri G, Smith HG, Ottosson U, Olsson O (2013) Bushmeat hunting changes regeneration of African rainforests. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 280(1759):20130246
Espinosa S, Branch LC, Cueva R (2014) Road development and the geography of hunting by an Amazonian indigenous group: consequences for wildlife conservation. PLoS ONE 9(12):e114916
Estrada A (2013) Socioeconomic contexts of primate conservation: population, poverty, global economic demands, and sustainable land use. Am J Primatol 75(1):30–45
Estrada A, Raboy BE, Oliveira LC (2012) Agroecosystems and primate conservation in the tropics: a review. Am J Primatol 74(8):696–711
Estrada A, Garber PA, Rylands AB, Roos C, Fernandez-Duque E, Di Fiore A, Rovero F et al (2017) Impending extinction crisis of the world’s primates: why primates matter. Sci Adv 3(1):e1600946
Fa JE, Brown D (2009) Impacts of hunting on mammals in African tropical moist forests: a review and synthesis. Mamm Rev 39(4):231–264
Fa JE, Olivero J, Real R, Farfán MA, Márquez AL, Vargas JM, Nasi R et al (2015) Disentangling the relative effects of bushmeat availability on human nutrition in central Africa. Sci Rep 5:8168
Fominka NT, Oliveira HF, Camargo NF, Robinson CAJ, Fokam EB (2020) Altitudinal and seasonal variation in the structure of nocturnal primate assemblages on Mount Cameroon. Int J Primatol 41(5):714–731
Fuentes A (2007) Monkey and human interconnections: the wild, the captive, and the in-between. In: Cassidy R, Mullin M (eds) Where the wild things are now: domestication reconsidered. Berg Publishers, Oxford, pp 123–145
Geise L, Pereira LG, Bossi DEP, Bergallo HG (2004) Pattern of elevational distribution and richness of non volant mammals in Itatiaia National Park and its surroundings, in southeastern Brazil. Braz J Biol 64(3b):599–612
Goodman SM, Rasolonandrasana BP (2001) Elevational zonation of birds, insectivores, rodents and primates on the slopes of the Andringitra Massif, Madagascar. J Nat History 35(2):285–305
Hill CM (2002) Primate conservation and local communities—ethical issues and debates. Am Anthropol 104(4):1184–1194
Hill CM (2005) People, crops and primates: a conflict of interests. Commensalism and conflict: the human–primate interface. American Society of Primatologists, Norman, pp 40–59
Horwich RH, Lyon J (2007) Community conservation: practitioners’ answers to critics. Oryx 41:376–385
Junior EUT, Valença-Montenegro MM, de Castro CSS (2016) Local ecological knowledge about endangered primates in a rural community in Paraíba Brazil. Folia Primatol 87(4):262–277
Kümpel NF, Milner-Gulland EJ, Rowcliffe JM, Cowlishaw G (2008) Impact of gun-hunting on diurnal primates in continental Equatorial Guinea. Int J Primatol 29(4):1065–1082
Lee PC, Priston NE (2005) Human attitudes to primates: perceptions of pests, conflict and consequences for primate conservation. Commens Conflict Hum Primate Interface 4:1–23
Lehman SM (2014) Effects of altitude on the conservation biogeography of lemurs in southeast Madagascar. In: High altitude primates, Springer, New York, NY, pp 3-22
Linder JM (2008) The impact of hunting on primates in Korup National Park, Cameroon: implications for primate conservation. PhD Thesis, City University of New York, New York, pp 145–162
Measham TG, Lumbasi JA (2013) Success factors for community-based natural resource management (CBNRM): Lessons from Kenya and Australia. Environ Manag 52:649–659
Mennen LI, Mbanya JC, Cade J, Balkau B, Sharma S, Chungong S, Cruickshank JK (2000) The habitual diet in rural and urban Cameroon. Eur J Clin Nutr 54(2):150–154
Milner-Gulland EJ, Bennett EL (2003) Wild meat: the bigger picture. Trends Ecol Evol 18(7):351-357
Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MINEF) (2014) The management plan for Mount Cameroon National Park and its peripheral zone 2015–2019. Report, p 108
Mittermeier RA, Schwitzer C, Rylands AB, Taylor LA, Chiozza F, Williamson EA, Wallis J (2012) Primates in peril: the world’s 25 most endangered primates 2012–2014. IUCN/Species Survival Commission (SSC) Primate Specialist Group (PSG), International Primatological Society (IPS), and Conservation International (CI), Bristol Conservation and Science Foundation (BCSF), Aelington, VA
Mollentze N, Streicker DG (2020) Viral zoonotic risk is homogenous among taxonomic orders of mammalian and avian reservoir hosts. Proc Natl Acad Sci 117(17):9423–9430
Mongyeh ET, Philips TK, Kimbi HK, Fokam EB (2018) Elevational and possible bushmeat exploitation effects on dung beetle (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) communities on Mount Cameroon, West Central Africa. Environ Entomol 47(5):1072–1082
Naughton-Treves L, Treves A, Chapman C, Wrangham R (1998) Temporal patterns of crop-raiding by primates: linking food availability in croplands and adjacent forest. J Appl Ecol 35(4):596–606
Nekaris KA (2013) Family Lorisidae (angwantibos, pottos and lorises). In: Mittermeier RA, Rylands AB, Wilson DE (eds) Handbook of the mammals of the world, vol 3. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, pp 210–235
Nekaris KA, Bearder SK (2010) The strepsirrhine primates of Asia and mainland Africa: diversity shrouded in darkness. In: Campbell C, Fuentes A, Mackinnon KC, Bearder SK, Stumpf RM (eds) Primates in perspective. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 24–45
Ngang DF (2015) The contribution of community-based natural resources management to livelihood, conservation and governance in Cameroon. A comparative assessment of three community forests in Fako Division. Post graduate Diploma thesis. Pan Africa Institute for Development, Cameroon
Nielsen MR, Pouliot M, Meilby H, Smith-Hall C, Angelsen A (2017) Global patterns and determinants of the economic importance of bushmeat. Biol Cons 215:277–287
Nijman V, Nekaris KAI (2014) Traditions, taboos and trade in slow lorises in Sundanese communities in southern Java, Indonesia. Endanger Species Res 25(1):79–88
Njiforti HL (1996) Preferences and present demand for bushmeat in north Cameroon: some implications for wildlife conservation. Environ Conserv 23:149–155
Nor SM (2001) Elevational diversity patterns of small mammals on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 10(1):41–62
Oates JF (2011) Primates of West Africa: a field guide and natural history. Conservation International, Arlington
Ordaz-Németh I, Arandjelovic M, Boesch L, Gatiso T, Grimes T, Kuehl HS, Junker J et al (2017) The socio-economic drivers of bushmeat consumption during the West African Ebola crisis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 11(3):e0005450
Pimley ER, Bearder SK, Dixson AF (2005) Home range analysis of Perodictus potto edwardsi and Sciurocheirus cameronensis. Int J Primatol 26:191–206
Pinto-Marroquin M, Serio-Silva JC (2020) Perception and uses of primates among popoluca indigenous people in Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Neotropical ethnoprimatology. Springer, Cham, pp 3–20
R Core Team (2019) A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for statistical computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/
Radhakrishna S (2017) Cultural and religious aspects of primate conservation. Int Encycl Primatol. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119179313.wbprim0323
Rao M, McGowan PJK (2002) Wild-meat use, food security, livelihoods, and conservation. Conserv Biol 16:580–583
Ripple WJ, Abernethy K, Betts MG, Chapron G, Dirzo R, Galetti M, Newsome TM et al (2016) Bushmeat hunting and extinction risk to the world’s mammals. R Soc Open Sci 3(10):160498
Robinson JG, Bennett EL (2000) Hunting for sustainability in tropical forests. Colombia University Press, New York
Rowcliffe JM, Milner-Gulland EJ, Cowlishaw G (2005) Do bushmeat consumers have other fish to fry? Trends Ecol Evol 20(6):274–276
Shokirov Q, Backhaus N (2020) Integrating hunter knowledge with community-based conservation in the Pamir Region of Tajikistan. Ecol Soc. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11253-250101
Svensson MS, Friant SC (2014) Threats from trading and hunting of pottos and angwantibos in Africa resemble those faced by slow lorises in Asia. Endang Species Res 23:107–114
Svensson MS, Ingramb DJ, Nekarisa KA, Nijman V (2015) Trade and ethnozoological use of African lorisiforms in the last 20 years. Hystrix It J Mamm 26(2):153–161
van Oosten V (2000) The conflict between primates and the human population in a protected area in North Cameroon: Centre d’Etude de l’Environnement et du Developpement au Cameroun (CEDC), Centre des Etudes de l’Environnement Universite de Leiden (CML) and Organisation Neerlandaise de Developpement (SNV), pp 1–57
Wolfe ND, Prosser AT, Carr JK, Tamoufe U, Mpoudi-Ngole E, Torimiro JN, Burke DS et al (2004) Exposure to nonhuman primates in rural Cameroon. Emerg Infect Dis 10(12):2094
Acknowledgements
Financial support for the current project came from The Rufford Foundation Grant number 20119-1 to Fominka T. Nestor, Conservation Action Research Network (CARN) Aspire Grant and Material support from Idea Wild. We are thankful to the chiefs and community forest management Committees of Woteva, Ekonjo Bokwango and Bakingili for allowing and facilitating our work in their community. Our gratitude also goes to Mukuya, Martin and Mbah Derick for their assistance during data collection. We would like to thank Capes-PRINT program for the scholarship provided for Hernani F. M. Oliveira.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
About this article
Cite this article
Fominka, N.T., Oliveira, H.F.M., Taboue, G.C.T. et al. Conserving the forgotten: New insights from a Central African biodiversity hotspot on the anthropogenic perception of nocturnal primates (Mammalia: Strepsirrhini). Primates 62, 537–546 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-021-00898-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-021-00898-7