Bonobo (Pan paniscus) Conservation Strategy 2012–2022

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4.1.2 Indirect Threats

Indirect threats are factors (typically social, economic, political, institutional or cultural) that con-

tribute to the presence or persistence of direct threats. These factors are intimately interconnected 

and are essentially all linked to the difficult socioeconomic and political contexts in DRC and the 

problems of weak governance that result from them.

Workshop participants identified the following contributing factors:

4.1.2.1 Bushmeat Trade

The high demand for bushmeat, particularly in urban centres where one third of the Congolese 

population lives, is one of the most important drivers of the commercial bushmeat trade. The rise 

in illegal hunting is exacerbated by rapid social change, an increase in demand for meat, and erod-

ing traditional taboos. The economic dynamics of the bushmeat trade are complex and often vary 

in different areas and contexts; nonetheless, research has shown that a high proportion of urban 

citizens consume bushmeat. There is a strong cultural attachment to bushmeat in Central Africa in 

general (Wilkie et al. 2005; Nasi et al. 2008) and DRC is no exception. In Kinshasa (9 million inhabit-

ants), 28% of households surveyed consumed bushmeat (Mbayma 2008). The high demand for 

bushmeat in Kinshasa combined with defaunation within a wide radius of the city makes bushmeat 

expensive and limits consumption by people who have little or no income. A study of bushmeat 

consumption in Kinshasa confirmed that if their incomes were to increase citizens would prefer to 

eat more bushmeat (Mbayma 2008). In contrast, in Kindu, where bushmeat is relatively abundant 

in the surrounding forests, the price of bushmeat was roughly one third to half that of domestic 

meat (Hart & Hart 2011). The bushmeat trade is highly opportunistic; as human populations shift in 

response to emerging poles of economic development across the country (e.g., road building, log-

ging and mining), centres of bushmeat activity shift to feed the influx of people who support these 

labour-intensive industries. Bushmeat in such opportunistic markets is now priced higher than the 

equivalent in Kinshasa (T. Hart pers. comm.).

[left] A pirogue loaded with bushmeat (antelope, bushpigs, primates) confiscated by ICCN guards in SNP © Gay Reinartz/ZSM

[upper right] Bushmeat market at Basankusu. Women play a significant role in the commercial bushmeat trade, but these vendors have agreed 

not to sell the meat of bonobos © Awely

[lower right] Shotgun cartridges and the skull of a bonobo killed by poachers  © Terese Hart 

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4.1.2.2 Availability of Firearms and Ammunition

The shotgun is the most common weapon used to supply the commercial bushmeat trade. 

However, 15 years of armed conflict and the collapse of law and order have led to a significant rise 

in the illegal circulation of military weapons and ammunition, already evident a decade ago (Hart 

& Mwinyihali 2001) and the situation is worsening. Semi-automatic weapons are commonly used 

for poaching of elephants and group-living monkeys (notably red colobus), and in DRC roughly 

800,000 ‘small arms’ such as Kalashnikovs are thought to be in civilian hands (Killicoat et al. 

2007). In 2007, the cost of a Kalashnikov was only US$ 50 (Killicoat et al. 2007). These are often 

dispensed to hunters by middlemen who are directly or indirectly involved in the bushmeat trade. 

Suppliers include military, police, businessman, local authorities and other well-connected people.

Information collected by ICCN and partners shows that the problem is widespread. Guns are 

generally used to hunt animals that are large enough to justify the cost of a cartridge; however, the 

cost of ammunition for military weapons (AK-47, FAL), is often insignificant because much of it has 

been illegally ‘diverted’ from official stocks. For example, in Boende (Salonga-Lukenie-Sankuru 

landscape) a UNESCO/IUCN evaluation mission confirmed the disappearance of 206 crates of 

ammunition from a military stock, even though it had been placed under police control (Aveling et 

al. 2007).

4.1.2.3 Weak Law Enforcement

Although DRC has an adequate legal framework for managing nature conservation and forestry, it 

has great difficulty in enforcing its laws. Prosecutions are rarely carried out and there is widespread 

lack of transparency. With limited political will and severe understaffing, provincial governments 

struggle to enforce their own environmental regulations. There are many reasons for this, all linked 

to the difficult socio-political context (e.g., corruption, non-respect of the law, ignorance of the 

law, impunity, lack of understanding of the implications of conservation, weak stakeholder com-

mitment). Law enforcement agents are often implicated in commercial poaching. Laws may be 

arbitrarily ‘enforced’ where, for example, agents have jurisdiction over groups outside their own 

ethnic lineage. Some people or groups may disregard state-mandated regulations on the premise 

of self-government or allegiance to conflicting regime.

While it is true that ignorance of the law is widespread (at the level of both local communities 

and administrative authorities), it is nevertheless a fact that people are often well aware of the 

law, but choose not to comply with it since they run little risk of punishment. The breakdown of 

law-and-order during years of conflict, combined with economic insecurity, has exacerbated the 

problems of non-compliance with the laws.

An adult male bonobo play-

ing with an infant at Wamba 

 

© Takeshi Furuichi

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