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Assessing the Effects of Bushmeat Hunting on Guenons and Other Large Mammals: Conservation Implications for Bioko Island
Abstract   Peer reviewed

Assessing the Effects of Bushmeat Hunting on Guenons and Other Large Mammals: Conservation Implications for Bioko Island

Mary K Gonder, Bryan S Featherstone, Sophia Raithel and Drew T Cronin
American journal of primatology, v 88(S1), pp 59-60
Feb 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.70118
PMID: 41860752

Abstract

Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea is an important study area for examining wildlife dynamics, hunting pressures, and wild meat market supply chains. Its isolation, urban concentration, primate hunting ban, and luxury wildlife trade create a natural laboratory to assess the impact of conservation actions on primates. This study leveraged over a decade of biomonitoring data from the Gran Caldera de Luba Scientific Reserve, hunter surveys, and market analysis to map the vulnerability of primates to hunting, identifying areas of significant biodiversity under intense hunting pressure, and seasonal hunting trends. We found areas of high species richness, particularly in the southern region of the Gran Caldera, and pinpointed locations where high species richness intersected with high hunting pressures. This enabled targeted conservation and biomonitoring efforts, especially as we observed distinct seasonal variations in hunting yields, with primate carcasses being more prevalent in the dry season while duiker rates remained constant. By analyzing the motivations behind hunting and the dynamics within local markets, our findings provided insights into the effectiveness of conservation efforts within protected areas. Disrupting the supply of wild meat requires considering numerous factors, including reserve access routes, the motivations of subsistence and commercial hunters, wildlife market trading patterns, and socioeconomic factors that impact wildlife trade across the year

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