Photo taken on Aug. 16, 2013 shows a herd of zebras in the Serengeti National Park, northTanzania. (Xinhua/Zhang Ping)
DAR ES SALAAM, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian conservationists have said there was alarming proof that Tanzania's wildlife populations could be wiped out in the near future as a result of over-hunting for bushmeat consumption.
Apart from the widely reported elephant and rhino poaching incidents, conservationists now warn that there is a much bigger but under-reported crisis involving the poaching of other wildlife animals such as impalas, wildebeest and zebras for bushmeat.
They estimate that up to 50 per cent of Tanzania's total wildlife population has already been decimated for bushmeat, which apart from being consumed locally is also reportedly exported to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), war-torn Somalia, Burundi, Sudan and other neighbouring countries.
A recent study by co-authors Silvia Ceppi and Martin Nielson revealed that there was regular bushmeat consumption by a large proportion of Tanzania's tribal populations.
The 2014 research titled "A comparative study on bushmeat consumption patterns in ten tribes in Tanzania" warns that some native species are at risk of becoming endangered, or even going extinct, as a result of over-hunting due to the prevalence of bushmeat consumption in the country.
"Many tribes (in Tanzania) believe that wild meat is healthier than domestic meat, increasing the demand for bushmeat. It has been estimated that between 40,000 and 200,000 animals are illegally harvested each year in the Serengeti ecosystem (alone)," said part of the study.
"Extrapolating from these estimates ... suggests that the value of the bushmeat trade originating in Serengeti is between 1 and 5 million US dollars per year," according to the study.
With growing demand from the increasing human population in surrounding communities, these numbers are likely to be higher today, said the study.
The study showed that antelope was the most frequently mentioned type of bushmeat consumed in Tanzania, followed by dikdik, duikers, hare and guinea fowl.
Pratik Patel, a leading Tanzanian conservationist who works with the Friedkin Conservation Fund, confirmed that there was a bushmeat crisis in the country.
Gaudence Milanzi, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, said that research conducted by his own ministry had established that the majority of the people who hunt wild animals do so for bushmeat and not for any other reason.
He admitted that the malpractice was there, but not to the extent of 50 per cent of animals being killed as claimed by conservationists.
