OH FOR THE LOVE OF SCIENCE had a great post concerning the plight of gorillas (Save the Gorillas!) and she brought to my attention that the United Nations has declared 2009 as the year of the gorilla. To (sort of) piggyback on that topic, I wanted to share some stats on the bushmeat trade as it is a great example of why I started this site…to view the world not just ‘By the Numbers’, but ‘Bio the Numbers’.
1 million metric tons – The amount of bushmeat eaten each year in Central Africa and equal to approximately 4 million head of cattle (WWF).
The bushmeat menu spans insects (45% of take) , mammals (23% of take), birds (20% of take), reptiles, and amphibians (WSPA, 2006)
“27% of recorded mammals, 63% of birds, 61% of reptiles and 35% of amphibianshunted are listed by IUCN as endangered or vulnerable to extinction” (WSPA, 2006)
