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Bushmeat in Asia

Bushmeat hunting has tremendously affected the biodiversity in Southeast Asia. Currently, over 400 terrestrial species are hunted in Asia. There are many reasons why the bushmeat crisis is a lot more prominent such as to supply livelihoods, craft medicine, and combat food insecurity. Some of the main species affected by the trade are bats and pangolins. Specifically with bats, the ripple effects are immense. According to Iroro Tanshi and Paul Racey, “Bat hunting for consumption as bushmeat and medicine is widespread and affects at least 167 species of bats (or c. 13 % of the world’s bat species), in Africa, Asia, across the islands of Oceania, and to a lesser extent in Central and South America. Hunting is particularly prevalent among the large-bodied fruit bats of the Old World tropics, where half (50 %, 92/183) the extant species in the family Pteropodidae are hunted.” These extreme hunting practices have caused numerous problems in the ecosystem, especially since bats are one of the main pollinators in the southern Asian environment. Furthermore, the overhunting of multiple bat species has affected communities’ water supplies, agriculture, and tourism industries. Bats and other species have also been used for medicinal purposes.

Bushmeat harvests are also utilized for medicinal purposes. In Cambodia, plants and animals are regularly used in health-based remedies. In Laos, the practice of bushmeat medicine is also widely popular. Pangolins are primarily used in traditional Chinese medicine. Primates have been documented as being used for ceremonial, religious, and medicinal purposes. While many depend on the bushmeat trade for medicine, the practice has proven to be largely unsustainable. Species such as the tiger, rhino, and elephant have been globally endangered as an effect. According to Tien Ming Lee, “In Taiwan for instance, the observed levels of usage and trade of turtle shells for traditional medicine appear to be unsustainable and may have a great impact on the chelonian fauna from source areas in China and Southeast and South Asia.” Experts state that the medicinal demand can be quelled by reproducing the medicine synthetically. This would allow ecosystems to rebuild and allow the repopulation of multiple endangered species.

Food insecurity and socio-economic factors have been a major factor for bushmeat hunting in Asia. Over 300 million people are dependent on the bushmeat industry for sustenance. In India, bushmeat contributes up to 25% of local communities’ livelihood and diet. In Laos, wild meat hunting makes up about half of the rural community’s income. However, this also contributes to the massive overhunting and destruction of local ecosystems and forests. On a rudimentary level, communities can be made aware of the issues arising from their actions. Furthermore, to reduce the practice, socio-economic woes must be realized so that local communities don’t rely extensively on the bushmeat trade. Efforts to transition bushmeat-dependent diets of communities to more sustainable ones could also be of benefit. However, according to Vinceti, “While major opportunities to strengthen the contribution of forest and tree foods to sustainable diets may be available, several constraints need to be removed. They are related to cultural issues; the sustainable use of non-wood forest products, or NWFPs; the organization of forest food provisioning; limited knowledge of forest food composition; challenges in adapting management of forests and trees to account for forest foods; and in integrating forest biodiversity into complex landscapes managed for multiple benefits.”