Bushmeat

Bushmeat (from the French "viande de brousse") hunting is common in sub-Saharan Africa's dense forests. It refers to the hunting of any animal which is not traditionally regarded to be a game animal, but is nonetheless edible. The meat may appeal to poor city dwellers with few choices, for example. Bushmeat animals include rats, antelopes, and forest elephants, among others. For centuries bushmeat has been an important source of protein for indigenous African populations.

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To the horror of animal rights and Great ape personhood advocates, bushmeat hunters began targeting gorilla, chimpanzee, and bonobo, as well as other primate species. This undid decades of conservation efforts. 'The bushmeat trade' refers to the sale of any bushmeat species, though Western sources tend to focus on the great apes.

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As this terminology suggests, the issue of bushmeat hunting is highly politicized, with practically no support for the practice outside the African forests and cities where it is done. Many international efforts to stop it have been launched, especially in the US, UK, and Canada. In the countries where the hunting occurs, orphaned apes (deemed too fragile to survive on their own, but also deemed too small to be worth shooting and cutting up, to the hunters) are raised and returned to the wild as part of these efforts.

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In Cameroon, where red gorilla populations were especially endangered, the World Wildlife Fund launched an education campaign to teach children about Koko the gorilla, who was part of a number of psychology experiments in an American zoo. As awareness of the intelligence of gorilla species and their ability express feelings and care for pets spread, local support for gorilla hunting fell at about the same time.

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French: French can refer to more than one article:...

Hunting: :This article is about the hunting of prey by human society. For other uses of the word "hunting", see Hunting (disambiguation). "Hunter" and "huntress" redirect here; for other uses of these words, see Hunter (disambiguation) and Huntress (disambiguation)....

Africa: Africa is the world's second-largest continent and second most populous after Asia. At about 30,244,050 km² (11,677,240 mi²) including its adjacent islands, it covers 20.3 percent of the total land area on Earth. With over 800 million human inhabitants in 54 countries, it accounts for abou...