What is Bushmeat?
All wildlife species which are hunted in the ‘bush’, or forests, are referred to as ‘bushmeat’.
Many different species are killed for bushmeat, some of which are protected and illegal to hunt (i.e. elephants, gorillas and chimpanzees), while others are ‘legal game’ such as cane rats and pangolins – although the most common in intact areas of the forests of Congo are duikers (forest antelopes) and bush pigs.
The choice of species is often a simple question of economics, with hunters choosing the largest animals that they can kill with a single shot gun shell. This means that bush pigs and large duikers are frequently the most popular choice, both in terms of numbers and biomass, in areas where the wildlife populations are still intact. In areas which have been over-hunted, there is a transition to primates (particularly the long-tailed monkey species) and eventually to rodents.