Environmentalists estimate as hunting impact on tropical animals
Dutch scientists conducted an extensive study and found that hunting in the tropics has reduced the number of animals more than you would expect. The results are published in the journal Science.
As the human population grows and more and more people are hunting wild animals, many species can threaten extinction. Scientists from the University of Nijmegen conducted a large-scale meta-analysis examining the 176 studies that have estimated the reduction in the number of mammals and birds for hunting in the tropics of Central and South America, Africa and Asia.
In their study, the researchers relied on the fact that, as a rule, people hunting near their village, and close to roads. The analysis showed that the number of mammals in these areas (ranging from seven to forty kilometers from roads and settlements) decreased by 83% and birds by 58% in comparison with other territories.
Reducing the number of animals was higher near large cities, probably due to the fact that the hunters then it was easier to sell the meat. Moreover, due to hunting the number of mammals has decreased even within protected areas.