Unsustainable Hunting Quickly Leads to a Protein Cliff

Unsustainable Hunting Quickly Leads to a Protein Cliff

1. Researchers used modeling techniques from a tropical forest area in Gabon to explore how hunter capture rates would need to change over time to halt unsustainable hunting and to maximize the nutritional and economic value of wildlife as a source of food and income over the long term.
2. They found that unsustainable hunting generates more biomass than sustainable hunting but only for the first 1 to 3 years after which offtake dwindles rapidly.
3. Achieving sustainable hunting will require that hunters reduce their offtake for 3–13 years until depleted populations recover, which may be unlikely unless they have access to alternative sources of food and income.
WCS Media Contact:  Stephen Sautner, 7182203682, [email protected]

Study and Journal:  "Unsustainable vs. Sustainable Hunting for Food in Gabon: Modeling Short- and Long-Term Gains and Losses"   from  Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
WCS Co-Author(s):  David Wilkie (Lead) , WCS Global Conservation Programs ;  Michelle Wieland , WCS DRC Program