The impact of hunting on tropical mammal and bird populations - PubMed

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• PMID: 28408600
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aaj1891

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The impact of hunting on tropical mammal and bird populations

A Benítez-López et al. Science. 2017.

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Abstract

Hunting is a major driver of biodiversity loss, but a systematic large-scale estimate of hunting-induced defaunation is lacking. We synthesized 176 studies to quantify hunting-induced declines of mammal and bird populations across the tropics. Bird and mammal abundances declined by 58% (25 to 76%) and by 83% (72 to 90%) in hunted compared with unhunted areas. Bird and mammal populations were depleted within 7 and 40 kilometers from hunters' access points (roads and settlements). Additionally, hunting pressure was higher in areas with better accessibility to major towns where wild meat could be traded. Mammal population densities were lower outside protected areas, particularly because of commercial hunting. Strategies to sustainably manage wild meat hunting in both protected and unprotected tropical ecosystems are urgently needed to avoid further defaunation.

Comment in

• Eating ecosystems.

  Brashares JS, Gaynor KM. Brashares JS, et al. Science. 2017 Apr 14;356(6334):136-137. doi: 10.1126/science.aan0499. Science. 2017. PMID: 28408560 No abstract available.

• The pet trade's role in defaunation.

  Tingley MW, Harris JBC, Hua F, Wilcove DS, Yong DL. Tingley MW, et al. Science. 2017 Jun 2;356(6341):916. doi: 10.1126/science.aan5158. Science. 2017. PMID: 28572357 No abstract available.

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