What is Bushmeat?

Bushmeat is wild animal meat, including that of endangered animals, such as chimpanzees and gorillas. The meat is often smuggled across international borders and even flown into the United States and sold illegally.

Bushmeat hunting involves one or more of the following violations:

• Use of illegal hunting methods
  
• Killing of endangered, threatened or protected species
• Trespassing into protected areas and unauthorized removal of the wildlife
  
• Unsustainable hunting practices (over-hunting or killing animals faster than they can reproduce)

What is the Bushmeat Crisis?
The bushmeat crisis is the illegal, unsustainable commercial trade of wildlife for food.
Find out about what fuels this illegal trade, how big the industry is, the problems with disease that arise from this trade, and more from the Bushmeat Crisis Fact Sheet.

Charlie’s Story- One Orphan Saved, Many More to Go…
Read this touching story about our chimp named Charlie and his influence in shaping the animal enrichment program here at the zoo.

Organizations Working to End the Crisis

Bushmeat Crisis Task Force
The Bushmeat Project
The Ape Alliance- Bushmeat Working Group
CITES Bushmeat Working Group
TRAFFIC
Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program

Things you can do

Sign the Bushmeat Promise
BCTF'sList of actions you can take to protect endangered African Wildlife in the face of the bushmeat trade

 

Charlie's Story | Crisis Fact Sheet