2.4.1 Commercial hunting for food
2.4.2 Commercial hunting for skins
2.4.3 The live animal trade
Commercial hunting practices and their scope in Latin America vary. Commercial hunting is an economic activity involving hunting as a way of life, final purchasers or consumers, and often a chain of middlemen. The first link of the chain may be subsistence hunters who sell their surplus meat or save the hides for later sale.
Indigenous groups share the kill with their family and neighbours and are often rewarded with sexual favours as well (247, 284, 539), but acculturation is now leading to trade within and outside the indigenous community (106, 431, 447). In campesino settlements some people devote themselves mainly or exclusively to hunting (32, 130, 336, 447, 543) and all of the excess meat is sold (32, 430, Botello personal communication, Ojasti personal observation). Twenty-five percent of the subsistence kills in Rio Pachitea, Peru, were sold (476): the Río Ucayali hunters sold 35 percent of the meat to their neighbours and 21 percent to itinerant vendors or "dealers" for sale in urban centres. In the village of Periquera the meat of large mammals was sold in the village but most of the tortoises (Geochelone) were sold outside the community (447). Carvalho (106) and Johns (307) list the current prices for bushmeat in the Tepé market in Amazonian Brazil. Bushmeat tends to be somewhat cheaper than that of domestic animals except for Podocnemis expansa, Deer meat (Mazama americana), paca and opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) have the highest sales on the Trinidad market (Ramdial pers. com.). Small-scale game sales are usually quite widespread in the villages and hamlets of tropical America.
Bushmeat can even be found in urban markets in forest areas. In the market of Iquitos, for example, various native mammals were sold including Tayassu tajacu (44 percent of the total weight), Agouti paca (34 percent), Mazama (7 percent), Tayassu pecari (6 percent), primates (mainly Lagothrix, Alouatta and Ateles (5 percent), and others (Dasyprocta, Hydrochaeris, Tapirus, Potos, Proechimys, Coendu, Tamandua, Dasypus and Trichechus), averaging 255 kg/day for a period of 18 days. Considerable numbers of live turtles were also sold (Geochelone, Podocnemis expansa, P. unifilis). Some 1 000 specimens of primates were sold during the survey period (February to August, 1973) (111). The meat is usually sold dried and salted for about 2 to 3 times what the hunter got for it. Spot surveys in Amazon cities in Brazil (79, 621) showed quite a demand for game in the establishments surveyed (Table 14), particularly for paca, turtle meat Podocnemis expansa, venison (Mazama, Odocoileus), peccary, tapir and armadillo meat. The authors cited suggested that captive breeding be developed to meet the potential demand.
Certain species have a prominent place in commercial hunting for food, whereas others are of little more than historical interest.
Among the preferred mammals are manatees, which have been commercially hunted in the Guianas (311) and Amazon (204) since colonial times. According to Domning (160), the main manatee products in Amazonia were "mixira" (fried meat preserved in its own grease), dried and salted meat, and some lard, which were on sale in the region's urban markets around the turn of the century.
Commercial hunting for fresh or salted manatee meat subsequently rose to 3 000 to 7 000 units each year, plus an unknown quantity for subsistence hunting, the combination of which triggered a severe population decline. In 1973 Brazil declared a total ban on manatee hunting. The manatee continued to be hunted on a small scale, however, in the Amazon (159, 160) and Orinoco (407, 569) basins.
Table 14. Preferred game items on Amazon restaurant menus as shown by surveys in: 1) Manaus, 2) Belem, 3) Boa Vista, 4) Caracai, 5) Macapá, 6) Porto Velho, 7) Rio Branco and 8) Santarém (79, 621). Listed in parentheses are the number of restaurants surveyed, whereas the numbers in the table indicate how often each species was mentioned
|
Species |
1(33) |
2(12) |
3(10) |
4(3) |
5(6) |
6(13) |
7(10) |
8(7) |
Total |
|
Mazama americana |
17 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
9 |
4 |
51 |
|
Podocnemis espansa |
23 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
44 |
|
Tayassu spp. |
12 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
33 |
|
Tapirus terrestris |
14 |
- |
- |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
23 |
|
Dasypus spp. |
9 |
- |
2 |
- |
1 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
19 |
|
Podocnemis unifilis |
5 |
- |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
- |
4 |
15 |
|
Dasyprocta |
4 |
3 |
1 |
- |
- |
2 |
2 |
- |
12 |
|
"Pato do mato" Anatidae |
6 |
- |
4 |
- |
1 |
1 |
- |
- |
12 |
|
Kinosternon |
- |
7 |
- |
- |
5 |
- |
- |
- |
12 |
|
Hydrochaeris |
7 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
- |
9 |
|
"Marreca" Anatidae |
1 |
3 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
6 |
|
Mutym, Crax |
- |
1 |
1 |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
2 |
5 |
|
Tinamus |
0 |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
|
Geochelone |
1 |
- |
1 |
- |
- |
1 |
2 |
- |
4 |
|
Alouatta |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
1 |
- |
4 |
|
Caiman crocodilus |
- |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
2 |
|
Pipile pipile |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1 |
|
Rhynchotus |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
- |
1 |
The capybara has been commercially hunted in the Llanos region since the last century (121) to supply a traditional Holy Week demand for dried salted meat. A management plan for capybara hunting was introduced in 1968 by the Ministry of the Environment of Venezuela, yielding an annual supply of 60 to 80000 animals (Table 15). As the Venezuelan experiment had shown, the species so far lends itself to continuous commercial harvesting (always assuming the population estimates to be reliable).
The exquisite flavour of paca meat has long made this species a target for commercial hunting (258, 499). The average paca hunter is a campesino spending time on this (currently clandestine) activity, which is more lucrative than farming. He sells the product, preferably live to fixed clients or restaurants, who serve it as a special a la carte item (130, 385, 402).
The Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) is a target for small-scale hunters in some semi-arid regions in northern South America (238, 336, 455). Robinson and Lyon (502) reported sales of dried and salted rabbit from the Island of Margarita in the markets of La Guaira, Venezuela. The rodents Jerodon and Cercomys are sold in the same way in some Brazilian cities (30). In southern South America, mammals considered pest animals are very often commercially hunted: the viscacha Lagostumus maximus and particularly hares (Lepus capensis) and European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are taken for both domestic and export markets (63, 362). Rossman (pers. com.) believes there are more than 1 000 professional rabbit hunters in Chile.
Among the bird species, ducks and other waterfowl appear to be the preferred target of commercial hunters in Brazil (105, 536), Mexico (349, 410), Peru (175) and Venezuela (237, 238). Nesting colonies of eared doves Zenaida auriculata are commercially hunted in arid northeastern Brazil (74, 536) and in Venezuela (350). Cracids, while predominant in subsistence hunting, do not seem to lend themselves to commercial uses.
The turtle Podocnemis expansa is undoubtedly the commercial reptile most affected by commercial hunting for food, due to its size and habit of gregarious nesting on some beaches of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers and their principal tributaries. Originally, P. expansa was mainly exploited for the eggs from which a highly prized oil was obtained (138, 250, 289). The capture of egg-laying females on nesting beaches for sale on urban regional markets was later intensified. For example, between 1945 and 1948, an average 6 650 turtles were captured each season on Pararuma Beach in Orinoco (414) and on the four main Orinoco beaches a total of 11 407 turtles were taken between 1950 and 1956 (491). Hunting of this species has been banned in Venezuela since 1962, and yet the population continues to decline due to year-round subsistence hunting and illegal capture on nesting beaches (439, 459). The capture and sale of the tortoise Geochelone is common in Brazil (105), Colombia (107), Peru (504), Venezuela (252, 396, 447, 507), and probably in other neotropical countries as well.
Commercial hunting of green and brown iguana and their eggs is widespread in tropical America, particularly in various Central American countries (207, 430, 511). The animals are caught live and sent off to local or export markets, particularly in El Salvador.
Table 15. Hunting statistics for capybara in Venezuela 1958 to 1986: Number of requests, number of hunting licences issued, authorized annual harvests (thousands of animals) and the amount/authorized quotient. Source: MARNR Statistics
|
Year |
Requests |
Licences |
Harvest |
Amount/Authorized |
|
1958 |
? |
41 |
21.3 |
- |
|
1959 |
? |
185 |
17.5 |
- |
|
1960 |
? |
48 |
5.0 |
- |
|
1961 |
? |
54 |
5.4 |
- |
|
1962 |
? |
57 |
8.8 |
- |
|
BAN |
1963-1967 |
|
|
|
|
1968 |
29 |
21 |
17.7 |
- |
|
1969 |
26 |
20 |
21.4 |
1.23 |
|
1970 |
28 |
14 |
22.4 |
0.92 |
|
1971 |
35 |
21 |
25.2 |
- |
|
1972 |
? |
40 |
40.0 |
- |
|
1973 |
? |
43 |
46.2 |
- |
|
1974 |
? |
26 |
20.3 |
- |
|
1975 |
36 |
21 |
20.0 |
- |
|
1976 |
28 |
27 |
22.2 |
- |
|
1977 |
39 |
30 |
47.2 |
- |
|
1978 |
52 |
41 |
54.5 |
- |
|
1979 |
78 |
56 |
65.9 |
- |
|
1980 |
83 |
61 |
60.4 |
- |
|
1981 |
114 |
66 |
61.4 |
0.83 |
|
1982 |
102 |
80 |
81.5 |
0.89 |
|
1983 |
133 |
106 |
88.4 |
0.75 |
|
1984 |
121 |
72 |
60.9 |
0.92 |
|
1985 |
142 |
30 |
26.1 |
- |
|
1986 |
119 |
15 |
14.3 |
0.84 |
The repetition of situations such as the above have pushed the resource to the brink of extinction in some cases, and commercial hunting is therefore legally banned in almost all countries of the region. On the other hand, commercial hunting seems fully justified for special cases such as capybara in Venezuela and hares and rabbits in Argentina and Chile. It may even be necessary to control these herbivores (64, 85, 440, 446).
2.4.2.1 Hunting and the skin trade in tropical America
2.4.2.2 Hunting and trade in non-tropical areas
2.4.2.3 Ecological, economic and social implications
The characteristics, scope and economic importance of the wildlife skins and hides trade in Latin America are reflected in various commercial and administrative statistics. But the reliability of these data is variable and often highly dubious, and the only permissible generalizations are necessarily relative.
Table 16 summarizes a representative set of data on the skins and hides trade in tropical America, particularly in Amazonia. Large herbivores account for the numerical majority of mammal skins at 88 percent. This is a by-product of animals actually hunted for food, as the low commercial value of the skins (US$0.50 - US$1.66/skin, Ponce's estimate, 417) would not merit their exploitation simply for that purpose (295, 296, 299).
The peccaries Tayassu tajacu and Tayassu pecari are respectively first and second. This is the reverse of the statistics on hunting for food (Tables 5 and 9), no doubt because Tayassu tajacu, though smaller, is in greater demand and more valuable, contributing 39 percent numerically and 23 percent in value for all mammal skins in commerce. Peccary skins are in the overwhelming majority in Ecuador at 88 percent (346), but in Venezuela, for example, there appears to be no fixed value. Mazama americana ranks third in the skin trade. Capybara skins are probably used less because there is less demand for the animal as food. Manatee leather (Trichechus inunguis) was in great demand for industrial use in Brazil from 1935 to 1945 (160), but is of no commercial value today.
Carnivore skins may be a product of hunting for food, but this subsector frequently involves professional, specialized hunters targeting a specific animal type (296, 544). High prices in the 1960s encouraged the hunt for spotted cats which accounted for 6.8 percent of the number and 49 percent of the value of all skins. Felis pardalis was first in economic terms and fifth in terms of abundance. The number of jaguar (Panthera onca) captures was low at 0.56 percent, but the jaguar ranked third (21 percent) in export values because of its high unit value. The modest figures for felines reported in Table 16 clash with those reported by Smith (544). In 1968 some 23 347 jaguar skins and 262 035 F. pardalis skins were imported to the United States alone, most from Brazil, where the estimated annual harvest comprised some 10 000 jaguars and 80 000 ocelots. Felis wiedi pelts are not highly valuable, despite which many more margay began to be hunted in the 1960s. The aquatic mustelidae, Lutra longicaudis and Pteronura brasiliensis, rank third in the skin trade at 2.1 percent of the total number and 10.7 percent of the total value). Here again, Pteronura statistics are underestimated for Brazil, where as many as 2 000 skins were taken each year (545).
Leather from reptiles is another major commercial hunting item in tropical America, normally accounting for an even greater number of specimens and more income than mammals (Table 17). The most valuable crocodiles were massively harvested in the 1930s by foreign crocodilian trading companies (377, 378, 397). In support of this statement, the outstanding relevant data are the 300 000 - 500 000 Crocodylus acutus skins taken along the Rio Magdalena in the heyday between 1928 and 1950, and the 235 000 - 254 000 Crocodylus intermedius hunted in the Colombian Llanos between 1930 and 1948. From 1930 to 1934, an estimated 300 000 C. acutus were killed in the Venezuelan Llanos. The capture of these species became sporadic thereafter, mostly because they had become scarce, and partly because of certain protectionist measures that were enacted. Something similar happened with C. moreletii in Mexico (16). Melanosuchus niger hunting in Amazonia, which began in the 1930s, peaked at some 1 200 000 specimens per year during the 1950s (378), and the species still appears in the 1974 statistics in Peru (479, 599) and in Colombia (334, 377).
With the depletion of the most valuable Crocodilian species (the big ones with the lighter ventral ossifications) by the 1950s, the hunt for Caiman crocodilus was on. Colombia headed the statistics for C. crocodilus with a total of 11 649 655 skins between 1951 and 1980. The species was legally hunted in Venezuela up to 1971, with a licensed total of 311 400 units for this period (bag limit per hunter 150, see Table 18). Despite these figures, a single tannery processed half a million skins every year during the same period (531), indicating that the actual kill may have been ten times the legal limit. Caiman were also hunted in Peru (Table 16), Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, where the species is called C. yacare (378). Crocodile hunting is currently restricted or banned in most countries and the international crocodile-skin trade is restricted. A C. crocodilus harvesting experiment by the Ministry of the Environment of Venezuela is now in the planning stages. It requires prior population estimates by those soliciting licences, and stipulates conservative harvesting quotas (468, 430, 431, 525, 603). The programme has boomed in recent years, paralleling the rising prices for these skins (Table 17, see also Chapter 3.3.1), and this is a real challenge to Venezuela's wildlife services.
Reptiles listed under "others" in Table 17 primarily comprise lizards (Iguana iguana, Tupinambis nigropunctuatus, Dracaera guianensis) and large snakes (Eunectes, Boa), but some statistics also list skins from the giant toad Bufo marinus. Bird skins do not appear on the current lists. Great white egrets (Egretta thula, Casmerodius albus), hunted for their skins in the Venezuelan Llanos, were a fairly important export item around the turn of the century (396).
Commercial hunting for hides and skins in southern South America and in the Andean altiplano present quite a different picture due to the composition of the fauna, and the climate. One example is the skins of certain species of no commercial value in the tropics, but which may become so in harsher climes.
Table 17. Caiman crocodilus hunting statistics in Venezuela; thousands of individuals. Period 1960-72: Permits for 150 caimans apiece for campesinos and fishermen, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Statistics; period 1983-88: licences granted to property owners on the basis of estimated populations and controlled harvest rates (496, 603), Ministry of the Environment Statistics
|
Year |
Number of requests |
Number of licences |
Authorized hunting |
Skins |
Processing units |
|
1960 |
? |
117 |
17.6 |
? |
? |
|
1961 |
? |
107 |
16.1 |
? |
|
|
1962 |
? |
112 |
16.8 |
? |
? |
|
1963 |
? |
124 |
18.6 |
? |
? |
|
1964 |
? |
194 |
29.1 |
? |
? |
|
1965 |
? |
216 |
32.4 |
? |
? |
|
1966 |
? |
286 |
42.9 |
? |
? |
|
1967 |
? |
205 |
30.8 |
? |
? |
|
1968 |
? |
168 |
25.2 |
? |
? |
|
1969 |
? |
141 |
21.2 |
? |
? |
|
1970 |
? |
192 |
28.8 |
? |
? |
|
1971 |
? |
214 |
32.1 |
? |
? |
|
1972-1982 |
|
No hunting licences issued |
|
|
|
|
1983 |
56 |
50 |
14.0 |
2.2 |
1.8 |
|
1984 |
115 |
55 |
85.2 |
72.6 |
28.8 |
|
1985 |
339 |
178 |
235.7 |
323.0 |
110.4 |
|
1986 |
|
No hunting licences issued |
|
|
|
|
1987 |
358 |
197 |
104.3 |
104.3 |
processing |
|
1988 |
703 |
304 |
153.0 |
152.0 |
|
The copy or nutria (Myocastor coypus), a plump amphibious rodent of southern South America, preponderates in Argentina's export statistics (Table 18), with annual exports of 1 to 2.5 million skins representing at least half the export earnings from skins in recent years. Tegu lizards (T. refescens y T. teguixin 191), known in Argentina as "iguana negra" or "lagarto overo", currently rank second in terms of both earnings and numbers. The grey foxes (Dusicyon griseus, D. gymnocercus) rank third in export value and fourth in numbers, but the trend is downward. Introduced leporidae (Lepus europeus or L. capensis), a new heading in the skin export statistics, are now numerically third. However, the economic return is poor, given their low unit value. The skins of young guanacos (called "chulengos") (Lama guanicoe), are fourth in export values. Other export items of some significance are skunks (Conepatus casteneus, C. chinga, C. humboldti, C. rex), peccaries (Tayassu tajacu, T. pecari, Catagonus wagneri), viscachas (Lagostomus maximus, Lagidium viscacia), oppossums (Didelphis marsupialis, D. albiventris), the big snakes (Boa, Epicrates, Eunectes), caimans (Caiman crocodilus) and Rheas (Rhea americana, Pterocnemia pennata): the last for its feathers. Generally speaking, hides and skins constitute 75 percent of the export earnings from Argentina's wildlife products. The remaining 25 percent consists mainly of frozen hare meat (362).
Comparing the 1976-79 statistics with those for 1982-83 (Table 18), there is a striking drop for most items during the 1980s, with only a very small increase for Tupinambis. There is a real slump for Conepatus, Dusicyon, Felis and Didelphis that may reflect either price fluctuations, gradual population depletion or new administrative policies.
Coypu skins (nutria), 407 000 to 610 000 per year from 1976 to 1979 (579), and the skins of sea lions and fur seals (Otaria flavescens, Arctocephalus australis) were the main commercial hunting targets in Uruguay (569, Mones, pers. com.). In earlier times, fur seals were also hunted along the coast of Argentina, Chile and even Peru (474, Rottman, pers. com.).
The fauna of the Andean altiplano include three highly valuable commercial species that have been intensively hunted since the Spanish conquest: vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) and Chinchilla lanígera and C. brevicaudata. In the eighteenth century an estimated 80 000 vicuñas were killed every year for their exquisitely fine wool. Despite myriad bans (dating back to 1877 and including Simon Bolivar's 1825 law), vicuña hunting and the relevant black market wool trade continued in the Andean countries, intensifying when repeating rifles and four-wheeled vehicles appeared on the scene, and extending to the most remote areas (Rottman pers. comm.). The Andean countries established a joint recovery programme for the remnant populations of this valuable species.
Scattered historical data on the chinchilla export trade show that 428 000 pelts were exported from Buenos Aires in 1924, and about half a million every year from two Chilian provinces around the turn of the century (246, 451). Wild remnant populations are protected by law and captive breeding in several countries has fostered a market for chinchilla pelts.
Table 18. Exports of wildlife skins and hides in Argentina: average annual exports 1976-79, estimates by Mares and Ojeda (362). Average annual exports 1982-1984, percentage of each item in total exports for 1982-84, unit price for exports in 1984 (US$), export values (US$) and the percentage of the total value for each entry in 1982-84. Source: National Wildlife Division statistics, Argentina
|
Species or group |
1976-79 |
Unit exported 1982-84 |
% |
Unit price |
% |
Export value 1982-84 |
|
Myocastor coypus |
2 245 399 |
1 616 296 |
42.95 |
5.53 |
18 234 939 |
66.07 |
|
Dusicyon spp. |
895 084 |
240 356 |
6.39 |
10.96 |
2 388 692 |
8.66 |
|
Lepus europeus |
- |
313 398 |
8.33 |
0.55 |
156 894 |
0.57 |
|
Conepatus spp. |
196 244 |
45 255 |
1.20 |
3.42 |
165 780 |
0.60 |
|
Tayassu spp. |
43 093 |
33 376 |
0.89 |
3.09 |
141 761 |
0.51 |
|
Lagostomus |
92 863 |
19 985 |
0.53 |
1.44 |
69 472 |
0.25 |
|
Lama guanicoe |
55 903 |
18 128 |
0.48 |
13.56 |
537 417 |
1.95 |
|
Didelphis spp. |
317 169 |
6 899 |
0.18 |
1.71 |
17 435 |
0.06 |
|
Castor canadensis |
- |
5 933 |
0.16 |
166.67 |
84 808 |
0.31 |
|
Hydrochaeris |
19 881 |
2 973 |
0.08 |
4.13 |
11 571 |
0.04 |
|
Felis spp. (2) |
104 949 |
1 575 |
0.04 |
4.00 |
6 300 |
0.02 |
|
Dusicyon culpaeus |
10 707 |
1 520 |
0.04 |
26.22 |
63 422 |
0.23 |
|
Chinchilla |
- |
397 |
0.01 |
8.52 |
3.165 |
0.01 |
|
Felis concolor |
885 |
4 |
- |
60.00 |
240 |
- |
|
Rhea Pterocnemia |
25 886 |
13 210 |
0.35 |
3.30 |
52 371 |
0.19 |
|
Tupinambis |
1 321 213 |
1 412 356 |
37.53 |
2.86 |
5 439 841 |
19.71 |
|
Snakes3 |
35 365 |
19 564 |
0.52 |
7.46 |
145 974 |
0.53 |
|
Caiman crocodilus |
20 679 |
11 907 |
0.32 |
5.55 |
77 347 |
0.28 |
|
Others |
943 (4) |
207 (5) |
0.01 |
12.36 |
2564 |
0.01 |
|
Total |
5 386 254 |
3 763 339 |
100.01 |
|
27 599 993 |
100.0 |
(1) Dusicyon griseus, D. Gymnocercus
(2) Felis colocolo, F. geoffroyi
(3) Boa, Eunectes, Epicrates, etc;
(4) Bufo
(5) Oryctolagus
A similar pattern tends to recur throughout the history of commercial hunting for skins and hides: a brief period of relentless and lucrative exploitation during which valuable species are driven to the brink of extinction. Some examples are the spotted cats, Pteronura, Crocodylus intermedius, C. acutus, C. moreletti, Melanosuchus niger, vicuña, the chinchilla, and so forth. The true extent of commercial hunting is unknown: the various forms of contraband, corruption, and intricate and fictitious import and re-export manoeuvres alter the real figures by an unknown factor that some researchers estimate to be as high as three or four (208, 321, 377, 451, 489).
The impact of commercial hunting on wildlife resources depends on a whole series of factors, including 1) the biological characteristics and habitat of the species (particularly how these affect the species' exploitation and capacity to recover); 2) the commercial demand, which acts as an economic incentive; 3) regional economic conditions and levels of unemployment, and, 4) the effectiveness of state regulatory and control measures in defence of the public interest and the national heritage.
Data on the impact of commercial hunting are virtually confined to before and after accounts of how abundant the resource was prior to the advent of hunting, and how scarce thereafter (16, 44, 259, 378, 397, 451, 488, 533, 611). The 1946-1972 skins and hides export data from the Peruvian Amazon (245, 479) do allow certain tentative generalizations to be made, however (Figures 1a and 1b). While the statistics in both Figures 1a and 1b show a certain amount of fluctuation, the herbivore hide export figures do remain fairly constant or tend slightly upward, particularly for Tayassu tajacu. The increase may well reflect an increased hunting effort linked to population growth, new hunting areas and a rising demand for food (245). The commercial bushmeat hunters who generally work along rivers are now striking 10 to 15 km inland from the shore in search of game (573). Herbivorous mammals are hunted primarily for food, bushmeat constituting approximately 80 percent of the total value of game products in the Peruvian Amazon (163), and the skins are a side item. No alarming slumps have been observed except possibly for Mazama, but gradual resource depletion is predictable as hunting expands with population growth.
Few carnivores were hunted for their skins during the 1940s (mostly Pteronura and Felis pardalis), but the figures spiralled dizzyingly upwards thereafter, particularly for Felis pardalis and Lutra longicaudis (apparently partly to replace Pteronura, kills of which decreased after 1955). Felis wiedi appears in the statistics from 1961 onwards and ranks third by 1965, though this may be a by-product of organized hunting for the more valuable felids (543). During the last two years the total of all kills has dropped. Commercial hunting of carnivores for the export skin trade has been banned in Peru since 1972.
Figure 1
The boom in exports from 1946 to 1970 was undoubtedly the outcome of a soaring hunting effort plus new hunting grounds combined with the emergence of an army of specialized hunters in response to high demand and high prices. As a resource becomes scarce, prices spiral and increasing the effort becomes more cost-effective. To give one example, the price of one jaguar skin brings in about as much as one Brazilian campesino earns in six months (544). The hounding of fur-bearing carnivores during the sixties is thought to have made very heavy inroads into carnivore populations, but protectionist measures adopted by various countries in the area (Venezuela in 1963, Brazil in 1967, Ecuador in 1970, Peru in 1972 and Colombia in 1973) as well as the international measures (CITES, 1973), have considerably curtailed commercial hunting for skins. It is also quite likely that a number of money-making activities linked to the drug traffic (growing and selling coca and marijuana) are helping to draw the pressure off hunting (Hernández Camacho, pers. com.). Commercial hunting for bushmeat continues to affect vast tracts of tropical America. Population estimates in Amazon forests (180, 307, 573) show an alarming drop in the numbers of large mammals in areas of intensive hunting, and this is corroborated by qualitative evidence of the destructive impact of unregulated commercial hunting.
Strikingly, not only are hides and skins exploited, the wildlife hunter is also exploited in socio-economic terms by a whole chain of intermediaries: buyers, tannery owners and international traffickers. Itinerant traders pay absurdly low prices to local hunters (163, 295, 296, 440, 446, 451, 496, 545), or, using cash advances and barter, may entrap them by extortion or deceit. Meanwhile, the powerful traders and exporters wield considerable political and economic clout in blocking or getting around protectionist measures (396, 452, 544, Jorge Padua, pers. com.). There is no question that rural unemployment and poverty have been very instrumental in the development of commercial hunting. And yet the income from this activity is heavily skewed to the detriment of the hunter, and the lion's share of the profits goes to the traders and exporters while regional socio-economic problems remain unsolved.
The capture of various wild animals, particularly songbirds and ornamental birds for pets, is a very widespread practice in tropical America (47, 238, 336, 432, 447, 536, 592). There is also an international demand for live animals, as various export statistics show (105, 143, 244, 334, 346, 357, 362, 479). Reptiles such as turtles, caimans, lizards and snakes (usually young specimens) are also exported, as are batrachians for terrariums and a variety of birds and mammals.
Numerically, the birds are the biggest group, particularly the Psittacidae (parrots, macaws and parakeets), the passeriform songbirds (Ichteridae, Thraupidae, Fringillidae, etc.) and toucans (Ramphastidae family). Various countries such as Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Suriname and Trinidad have set standards listing species, numerical limits and seasons for the capture, artisanal breeding and domestic trade in ornamental birds and songbirds. Though not regulated in the other countries, these are widespread activities, bird collectors being a significant portion of wildlife users (Table 3).
Between 1966 and 1972, an average annual 87 000 birds were exported from the Peruvian Amazon (67 percent of all live animal exports), (479). Some 50 000 were exported from Mexico in 1980 (388), some 56 600 from Colombia in 1970 (334), and, according to the National Wildlife Division's statistics, nearly 140 000 from Argentina in 1984. Adult birds are caught with traps, lassos, nets or glue, or captive-bred from chicks taken from wild nests. This is an artisanal economic activity of some importance in certain regions. Where confined to common species and properly controlled, it might well be a rational form of wildlife use. Meanwhile, the species in greatest demand and thus commanding the highest prices must be strictly regulated to ensure their survival (120, 255, 536).
The live mammal trade embraces a great variety of species intended for zoos, the pet trade or biomedical experimentation. Numerically, primates head the list (119, 164, 244, 309, 334, 357, 543, 549). From 1964-1972 as many as 50 000 monkeys were exported from Latin America to the United States, mainly from Peru and Colombia (Table 19). Legal exports of monkeys from the Peruvian Amazon in 1966-1972 averaged 35 500 each year, some 28 percent of all live animals and 96 percent of the mammals exported from that country. Monkeys accounted for 65 percent of the value of all live animal exports (479). The main commercial species are Saimiri sciureus (over 60 percent of the total) Aotus spp., Cebus albifrons. Saguinus oedipus, Lagothrix lagothricha, Cebus apella, Seguinus nigricollis and Ateles geoffroyi (119, 244, 357). Primate exports declined considerably after 1973, when legal restrictions were enacted by Peru and Colombia, to a mere 4 000 in 1980 (mainly from Bolivia). The estimated demand for neotropical primates for biomedical experimentation will reach 20 000 by the year 2000: Most of these will be bred in captivity (164), relegating the commercial wild monkey trade to a matter of historical interest. In its heyday, the activity did provide occasional income for some campesinos, though they received a bare 8 percent or less of the final sale price. At that time the monkey trade accounted for some 15 percent of the value of Peru's wildlife exports (479) and barely 3 percent of Colombia's (244).
The impact of commercial capture on primate populations is not well documented. It is believed that rare species or species with a very small range may be seriously affected (122, 244, 266, 549). What is known, however, is that the ongoing practice of hunting primates for meat, very much alive today, mainly targets the large primates, which are precisely those less able to bounce back (266, 500, 550).
