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Primates Research Paper

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Primates Research Project: The Infamous Bushmeat Trade on Bioko Island The bushmeat crisis has had a disastrous impact on primates, as well as endangered species in general, and has been a predicament in Equatorial Guinea for the past three and a half decades. On Bioko Island, a territory of Equatorial Guinea off the coast of West Africa, primates are especially in danger and have been slaughtered mercilessly for the bushmeat trade. Though bushmeat has served as a source of sustenance for those who would otherwise starve, the development of the island has factored in many more gruesome elements. Bioko Island is rather small in size but has expanses of intact forests that have been largely uninhabited by humans until recent years. Due to …show more content…
The consumption of primates serves as a status symbol and can indicate wealth and importance, due to the steady increase of demand and price. The main consumers of these primates are wealthier compared to the bulk of the island’s population, sixty-five percent being of Fang ethnicity and twenty-four percent being of Bubi ethnicity. Unfortunately, as the prices of bushmeat increase, more individuals are encouraged to hunt as a source of income. Cronin’s long term study displayed a sharp increase in monkey harvest in 2002 and 2005, though primates still remain the third most common market animal in …show more content…
Without primates and other species that thrive in these forests, seed dispersion and pollination are diminished and vital links are missing in the ecosystem’s food chain. Also, infants are left to suffer and are never given a chance to enjoy their existences. In the northern region of Bioko, the “empty forest syndrome” is in effect, where the forests are structurally intact but vacant of much large wildlife. When such dramatic damage occurs, chances of a more diverse biosphere and the involvement of future generations is impossible. This mortifying trade is simply

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