[00:04.52]24) Bush Meat Crisis:
[00:11.21]The meat of wild forest animals, called bush meat,
[00:16.09]has long been an important part of the diet of people in central and western Africa.
[00:22.91]But hunters are killing too many of these animals.
[00:27.59]The hunters are supported by the logging industry that cuts down trees for profit.
[00:34.66]Environmentalists say animals such as gorillas and chimpanzees are especially at risk.
[00:42.21]They say these animals are in danger of disappearing if the so called bush meat trade is not slowed.
[00:50.34]Bush meat is the main source of animal protein for a majority of people in Congo Kinshasa,
[00:59.01]Congo Brazzaville,Cameroon,: and Gabon.
[01:03.45]Experts say individuals who hunt meat for their families do not affect the number of animals in the African forests.
[01:12.41]But they say this has changed in recent years because of over-hunting for the illegal bush meat trade.
[01:21.27]Bush meat is sold in markets and eating-places in African cities.
[01:27.80]Bush meat is also sold in local markets near logging settlements
[01:33.13]where it is popular among the thousands of workers.
[01:36.81]Jane Goodall is an expert on gorillas in the wild.
[01:42.09]She says the logging companies have made the situation worse because they have built roads deep into forests.
[01:51.39]She says that has made it easier for hunters to reach endangered animals.
[01:57.11]Environmentalists say hunting is only one of the problems facing the animals.
[02:04.66]The animals are also threatened by millions of central Africans who have been displaced by civil wars in the past ten years.
[02:14.16]Armed citizens are killing wildlife because they are unable to get other kinds of food.
[02:21.74]Environmentalists say logging companies need to be pressured to ban the export of any threatened animals.
[02:31.75]And they say local people need to be educated about the dangers of eating bush meat.
[02:39.32]Some bush meat has been shown to contain the deadly Ebola virus and the AIDS virus.
[02:47.29]Environmentalists say the bush meat trade can be reduced by providing other kinds of animal meat for people to eat.
[02:56.93]But they say this can only be done with the help of international aid organizations.
[03:04.76]Jane Goodall says many animals in central Africa could disappear in the next twenty years
[03:12.71]without efforts to deal with the bush meat problem. |