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Managing bushmeat hunting in Okapi Wildlife Reserve, Democratic Republic of Congo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

David S. Wilkie ,
Bryan Curran ,
Richard Tshombe  and
Gilda A. Morelli
David S. Wilkie
Affiliation:
Associates in Forest Research and Development, 18 Clark Lane, Waltham, MA 02154-1823, USA. E-mail: dwilkie@msn.com
Bryan Curran
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Society, 185th and Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY 10460, USA.
Richard Tshombe
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Society, 185th and Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY 10460, USA.
Gilda A. Morelli
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167-3807, USA.
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Abstract

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Projected rates of agricultural clearing in the Ituri Forest of north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo range from 0 to 0.1 per cent per year and suggest that deforestation for subsistence agriculture is not an immediate threat to the integrity of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve (OWR). If the human population continues to grow at over 3 per cent per annum, and bushmeat continues to be a major source of income for rural communities, subsistence-level exploitation of bushmeat may, however, not be sustainable. This paper proposes management approaches that address the demand for and supply of bushmeat, which are targeted at those political districts within the OWR where hunting is the greatest threat to populations of bushmeat species. These management approaches are designed to help conserve the Ituri's natural resources without compromising the health and income security of rural communities.

Type
Research Article
Information
Oryx , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , April 1998 , pp. 131 - 144
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 1998

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