Ethnozoology of bushmeat

In the Congo Basin, food is an everyday concern and its acquisition and transformation often structure many of the activities of a human group. While agriculture provides the main source of calories, meat of wild animals, commonly referred to as bushmeat, represents the main source of protein for lo...

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Main Authors: Romain Duda, Sandrine Gallois, Victoria Reyes-García
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Laboratoire Éco-anthropologie et Ethnobiologie 2018-12-01
Series:Revue d'ethnoécologie
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/ethnoecologie/3976
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author Romain Duda
Sandrine Gallois
Victoria Reyes-García
author_facet Romain Duda
Sandrine Gallois
Victoria Reyes-García
author_sort Romain Duda
collection DOAJ
description In the Congo Basin, food is an everyday concern and its acquisition and transformation often structure many of the activities of a human group. While agriculture provides the main source of calories, meat of wild animals, commonly referred to as bushmeat, represents the main source of protein for local people in the region and plays an important role in terms of dietary diversity and health. However, the increase of bushmeat consumption in towns and more efficient hunting practices have pushed the harvest of wild animals to unsustainable levels, generating a “bushmeat crisis”. The growing demand for bushmeat has created strong pressures and a lure of profit pushing the hunters of southern Cameroon to sell (illegally) their harvest. A dynamic that might affect both local diets and the modalities of relations between humans and animals. Therefore, this paper aims to describe the importance of wild meat for the Baka, an ethnolinguistic group of Southeastern Cameroun, traditionally hunter-gatherers. It analyses the place of the animal in the Baka daily life through its contribution in dietary, symbolic and economic terms. The paper combines a qualitative ethnography with individual-level data on food diversity intake and meat selling, and describes different aspects related to meat sharing and consumption.
format Article
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publisher Laboratoire Éco-anthropologie et Ethnobiologie
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series Revue d'ethnoécologie
spelling doaj-art-c49f8706d689474aacaa9854881ce6452025-02-05T16:24:50ZengLaboratoire Éco-anthropologie et EthnobiologieRevue d'ethnoécologie2267-24192018-12-011410.4000/ethnoecologie.3976Ethnozoology of bushmeatRomain DudaSandrine GalloisVictoria Reyes-GarcíaIn the Congo Basin, food is an everyday concern and its acquisition and transformation often structure many of the activities of a human group. While agriculture provides the main source of calories, meat of wild animals, commonly referred to as bushmeat, represents the main source of protein for local people in the region and plays an important role in terms of dietary diversity and health. However, the increase of bushmeat consumption in towns and more efficient hunting practices have pushed the harvest of wild animals to unsustainable levels, generating a “bushmeat crisis”. The growing demand for bushmeat has created strong pressures and a lure of profit pushing the hunters of southern Cameroon to sell (illegally) their harvest. A dynamic that might affect both local diets and the modalities of relations between humans and animals. Therefore, this paper aims to describe the importance of wild meat for the Baka, an ethnolinguistic group of Southeastern Cameroun, traditionally hunter-gatherers. It analyses the place of the animal in the Baka daily life through its contribution in dietary, symbolic and economic terms. The paper combines a qualitative ethnography with individual-level data on food diversity intake and meat selling, and describes different aspects related to meat sharing and consumption.https://journals.openedition.org/ethnoecologie/3976anthropology of foodwild meathunter-gathererspygmiesdietfood avoidances
spellingShingle Romain Duda
Sandrine Gallois
Victoria Reyes-García
Ethnozoology of bushmeat
Revue d'ethnoécologie
anthropology of food
wild meat
hunter-gatherers
pygmies
diet
food avoidances
title Ethnozoology of bushmeat
title_full Ethnozoology of bushmeat
title_fullStr Ethnozoology of bushmeat
title_full_unstemmed Ethnozoology of bushmeat
title_short Ethnozoology of bushmeat
title_sort ethnozoology of bushmeat
topic anthropology of food
wild meat
hunter-gatherers
pygmies
diet
food avoidances
url https://journals.openedition.org/ethnoecologie/3976
work_keys_str_mv AT romainduda ethnozoologyofbushmeat
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AT victoriareyesgarcia ethnozoologyofbushmeat