The Bushmeat Crisis in the News
The Bushmeat Crisis is being reported on, in the traditional media, with greater frequency. The newsfeed, below right, shows articles appearing in recent weeks. Also see Reuter's World Environmental News for daily events. Below we show more memorable news items. For historical perspective and your research needs our archives contains older News items. The Great Ape Project File Archive is also a resource for older stories. If you can't find what you are looking for you may Search Our Site.
We update this page irregularly since the newsfeed automatically keeps up with present events. We welcome your suggestions for items to be permanently posted here.
February 2004: Legislation to protect dwindling forests of the Congo River basin in Africa cleared its final legislative hurdle on Tuesday and will be signed by President Bush, its chief author U.S. Rep. Edward Royce (R-Calif.) said today.
January 2004: European Parliament Votes To Tackle 'Bushmeat' Crisis.
November 2003: The News in Monrovia reports that a member of the Transitional Legislative Assembly (TLA) has recommended that a moratorium be placed on logging activities in the Country for at least ten years to enable the Liberian Government assess its bio-diversity programs.
October 2003: The WWF announced the formation of a Producers Group for West and Central Africa composed of logging companies committed to halting illegal logging in the region ... to achieve environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable forestry practices in their logging concessions and mills.
August 2003: CBS Evening News reported on the growing bushmeat trade and its entry into the US. The report includes a video of the coverage that appeared on August 1st.
June 2003: Beyond the ethical issues of allowing our close kin to die out and the ecological consequences of their demise, the plight of the great apes is a dramatic example of how we have to protect nature to protect ourselves. Read David Suzuki's take on this in "Protecting ourselves means protecting the great apes."
May 2003: Can China Reverse its Bushmeat Crisis and Become a Wildlife Conservation Model? SARS impact on wildlife policy in the biggest country in the world may do just that. China's southern Guangdong province, which has traced SARS to civet cats, has decided to ban the consumption and trading of wild animals in an effort to stop the spread of the disease. This is reported by the BBC and by Yahoo.
December 2002: In Central Africa, the last populations of mountain gorillas are threatened by a new outbreak of poaching, possibly the mastermind of an unknown sponsor with lots of money. See CNN Story.
November 2002: The fact that virtually all species are subjected to over hunting implies that where the populations of key species, such as the primates and duikers, which are pollinators and seed dispersal agents, are drastically reduced, they can no longer play their ecological functions of facilitating forest regeneration. See this detailed story on the state of Bushmeat in Ghana.
October 2002: Poachers in Rwanda have killed two of the world's last remaining mountain gorillas in an attempt to capture and sell their young. See the full NewAfrica.Com story.
July 2002: The July 7th Newsweek had an article, tied with the International Aids Conference about SIV-HIV cross species transmission and the Dallas Morning News opines that "in Africa, the killing of chimps and other primates for food may be spreading AIDS-like viruses, threatening species".
June 5, 2002; A Law Professor Says It's Time to Extend Basic Rights to the Animal Kingdom. Read the full article.
June 4, 2002; BBC News reports that as much as 10 tonnes of African bushmeat may be reaching London every day, according to a British film on the trade. It says the extent of the killing has already left some countries with few animals to poach. Read the full article or see the video as it follows Karl Ammann in his investigations of Bushmeat.
June 2, 2002; USC's Craig Stanford believes that chimpanzees are as intelligent as 2-year-old children. Read the full article.
February 4, 2002; The UK's Observer reports that the Miss Waldron Red Colobus was eaten to extinction last year, and conservationists say that, at the current rate of consumption, gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees have only about 10 years left.
July 20; The Why Files feature article, Saving the Last Edens, discusses bushmeat issues.
June 26; The London Zoo is now campaigning to end the Bushmeat trade by asking visitors to sign the EAZA petition.
June 7; This telling article, from the Christian Science Monitor estimates that some 3000 Bonobos survive in the wild. This is down from 100,000 some 20 years ago.
April; Great Apes at the Threshold: Implications for Law, Ethics, Conservation and Science Conference.
March; News is coming out concerning tons of bushmeat being smuggled into London. Last fall 1400 kgs were confiscated. Is this a foot and mouth disease risk?
January 2001; The International Primatological Society held its 18th congress in Adelaide, Australia. As a guest of the IPS, Dr. Anthony Rose joined other conservation dignitaries for a media tour and presented his talk -- "The Bushmeat Crisis: Strategies, Solutions, and Social Change Capacity" at a symposium on the bushmeat crisis.
