Help Stop the Illegal Commercial Bushmeat Trade

FROM The Jane Goodall Institute

Help END this horrific business! Scientists estimate that bushmeat hunters process 10,000 metric tons of bushmeat (chimpanzees comprise the largest percentage) from African forests each year.

CONTACT

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INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

The illegal commercial bushmeat trade is an issue that we can’t afford to ignore.

At the turn of the 20th century, there were approximately one to two million chimpanzees in the tropical forests of Africa. Today, scientists estimate that there are fewer than 300,000 chimpanzees remaining in the wild. Habitat loss and the illegal commercial bushmeat trade are the two biggest threats facing wild chimpanzees, and these problems are inextricably linked.

The remoteness of chimpanzee habitat was once the chimpanzee’s greatest defense. But now major logging and mining businesses are encroaching deeper and deeper into forests, cutting roads into previously inaccessible areas and providing greater access to poachers who kill many species including endangered chimpanzees. In some cases these companies actually hire hunters to provide bushmeat for their employees. Scientists estimate that bushmeat hunters process 10,000 metric tons of bushmeat from African forests each year.

Thank you for everything you do for animals!