An African animal conservation book:

How Many Monkeys?

By C. Dorian

BUSHMEAT

BUSHMEAT

BUSHMEAT

BUSHMEAT

BUSHMEAT

Contents

African animal conservation......................page 5Glossary.................................................page 70Glossary of names...................................page 74Questions...............................................page 75

The bushmeat crisis in Africa is a compli-cated problem, with different regulations, dif-ferent species and different concerns in eachof many countries. The more attention focusedon positive action, the more threatened andendangered species have a chance of survival. This book is dedicated to the survival ofall African monkeys, as well as apes, elephantsand other wildlife hunted by man.

An African animal conservation book:How Many Monkeys?Author: Camille DorianA free e-bookCopyright 2006

In a conservation office in Africa hangs a pictureof a certain tree. How many monkeys are left sittingin the tree? Thatis the question.

Are there fivehundred monkeysleft sitting in thetree? No. Oncethere REALLYWERE. Therewere even morein some trees.But many werehunted for bush-meat and somewere killed fortheir furs as well.Some werehunted by localhunters withsnares, bows, ar-rows or nets, butothers in morerecent years werekilled by bands oftraveling poach-ers with semiau-tomatic weapons.

But surely because it is in the middle of Africathere are still one hundred monkeys left sitting in

Schmidt’s spot-nosed monkeys, also called red-tailed monkeys, live only in parts of Africa and arethreatened because of destruction of their forestsby logging, use of their forest home land for cattlegrazing and because they are hunted and killedas bushmeat.

such a tree?

Oh no. Now half of the meat eaten by most Afri-cans is bushmeat, and some is sold to tourists andsold abroad as well. Many metric tons of bushmeat iskilled and sold every year as novelty or status food.

Bushmeat is sold in the open markets of Africa.There is a sign for it on a restaurant in the marketplace. Try a Bushmeat Dish - $60 US dollars, it reads.

“What’s bushmeat anyway?” Kim, a blonde-hairedcollege student, asks her companion.

“It is the meat of any wild African animal, evenendangered animals,” he says. “Bushmeat animalsare killed by hunters and sold in the market place.*So, we could eat many kinds of novelty animals here,you know?” he says with excitement. “Would you liketo tell our friends back home that we tried gorillasteaks or elephant soup?”*

Kim’s eyes grow wide and she does not answer.

Back out in the wilds, away from the city, touristscan take a bush taxi and follow the logging roads**out to the monkey tree.

(*Bushmeat is now often considered a symbol of luxury and prestige.So-called delicacies such as elephant trunks, monkey limbs and gorillahands are sold in city restaurants for more than US $60.00 per dish.)

(**More logging roads are continuously being built, as forests are cutdown to provide timber for an over-populating human world.)

Bushmeat is the meat of any wild African animal, even endangered orcritically endangered animals. Often middlemen are involved, travelingto villages to buy bushmeat from hunters, which they sell at a profit inthe marketplace. Above is the female Western lowland gorilla. Below isthe swamp guenon (left) and De Brazza’s guenon (right).

How manymonkeys are leftsitting in thetree? In the con-servation office,they have drawnthe tree andplaced markersin it to representthe monkeys.*Here is the an-swer. There are15 monkeys leftsitting in thetree. But thereused to be 500.That means 485monkeys havedisappearedfrom this one

tree which stands in the middle of Africa.

Many different kinds of people hear about themonkey tree in the conservation office. The localbushmeat hunter says, “No problems here. Fifteen isstill a lot of monkeys!”

The commercial bushmeat poachers say, “Hey, thenumber is fine. There are still many thousands ofmonkeys and great herds of hoofed bushmeat as

Once there really were hundreds of red-tailedmonkeys sitting in this African tree.

(*This is called a model.)

well. We will use our guns and jeeps and travel towherever the animals remain. We have to make a liv-ing, right?”*

The bushmeat middlemen say, “What’s the fuss,brother? That is just one tree!” The buyers in the mar-ket place say the same.

The man who eats the bushmeat says, “No worriesmy friend! That is plenty of monkeys for me. I am onlyone man and Idon’t eat much.”

The govern-ment officialsthrow up theirhands, “What canwe do ?” theyask.

But thepeople from theconservation of-fice frown andshake theirheads. “Oh no!”they say. “Some

Conservationists know that local people inmany countries must be taught to help con-serve their own native wildlife, such as theDouc langur, above, found only in Vietnam.

(*The consensus is thatcommercial hunterswould still make a livingif they stopped huntingtotally protected spe-cies.)

people are misinformed!! That is not a lot of mon-keys! And the numbers are dwindling too fast!”

“And don’t you know?” says Hannah, a conserva-tionist from Sweden. “These bushmeat hunters andpoachers break many laws!!”*

It is well known in the conservation office that ev-eryone wants a better, a more affluent life. But in Af-rica it has been at the cost of endangered animals.Hunters, they know, may still be sent out to illegallykill animals like the gorilla for someone’s Christmasdinner party.

The head conservationist is a bearded man namedKarl. He once lived in Germany and once in Americaand he has visited Brazil, China, Sumatra and Viet-nam as well, looking for ways to help teach localpeople to keep their native monkeys alive. He hastraveled in many African countries too. “It is a pity,”he says, as he strokes his beard. “There are manyplaces in Africa where we conservationists cannoteven work because of civil wars. Even endangeredmountain gorillas have been killed during war,” hetells them. He takes out his report and reads,

“Forests that were once untouched or too thick totravel through are now just a few miles from loggingroads. So it is easier for bushmeat hunters to get into

(*Many animals hunted for bushmeat are protected by the Conventionon International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Animals in cer-tain areas of Africa sometimes have laws protecting them as well.)

Bushmeat hunters kill manyAfrican animals to be sold asbushmeat both in Africa andin the capital cities of some Eu-ropean countries. These in-clude elephants, cheetahs, go-rillas, the lesser spot-nosedguenons, hyenas and lions.

Bushmeat hunters kill wild pigs who make large litters, but they also killrare, threatened animals like the young patas monkey, above left, and theyoung mona guenon, above right.

Although forest animals prey on each other, (leopard among impalas,below), they manage to keep nature and their habitats in a better balancethan humans do. This is partly because a leopard is more likely to kill andeat an old and injured animal or one that is too young to breed and makenew young. And the leopard kills only what he himself needs at the timewhen he is there. Man kills off adult male and female breeding age ani-mals, so then there are fewer animals to make more young. And man killsmore than his share. He kills for others and kills and preserves extra bush-meat to eat later.

the forests to kill the animals.

It is also easier for hunters to take a bush taxi backto the markets where they sell their kills. Not muchland is protected by guards, parks or reserves.**Bushmeat hunters kill forest antelopes and wild pigsbut they also kill rare, endangered animals like mon-keys, gorillas, chimpanzees, forest elephants, okapi,cape buffalo, impala, eland, duikers and lesser kudu.”

“Who do those bushmeat hunters think they areanyway,” fumes Hannah.

Karl has a deep frown. He pulls out another reportwhich says,

“Each year hundreds of bushmeat poachers breakthe law to cross into areas where bushmeat hunting isnot allowed. Then they set fires to flush out elephants,monkeys, giraffes, crocodiles, lions and other wildlife.They shoot the bush animals and smoke their meat. Inthe Serengeti of Central Africa, only five out of every100 of these animals is left. The other 95% have beenhunted and killed.”

“See what I mean?” Hannah stomps her foot. “Thebushmeat hunters should be thrown in jail,” she says.

The conservationists listen intently to Karl. “Eachman who eats bushmeat is one too many,” they say.(**Only around 8 out of every 100 acres of low access forest is pro-tected.)

At the present rate of destruction, it will not be long till Africa will run outof its unique and beautiful animals such as the ground living red patasmonkey. The patas monkey female usually has only one new young eachyear.

“Add up all of those who eat bushmeat,” saysKarl. “Then subtract all the number of bushmeat ani-mals they are eating each year.”

“Soon Africawill run out of itsunique wildlife,”rants Hannah.“And all so cer-tain people couldeat bushmeatwhen theywanted it!”

“And what ofthe meat courierswho sell bush-meat in the capi-tols of Europeancities?” asks thedark-eyed con-servationistnamed Maret.“Don’t forget toabout the bush-meat they sell.”

“Wouldn’t youknow, I have a report with more bad news,” saysHannah. Her voice grows louder. “Poachers in theCongo Basin have emptied the forests of more than a

Bushmeat hunters target monkeys with younglike this black and white colobus monkey. Theyoung are either sold as pets in the market-place (monkeys cannot be taken out of thecountry). Or the young are raised as farm ani-mals until they are big enough to eat. Blackand white colobus monkeys have also beenwidely killed for their fur.

million metric tons of bushmeat (an amount equal tofour million cattle) every year. That is more than six

times too much. Itis unsustainable,”she tells them.

“The animalsmay look plentifulin some places,but they can bequickly wiped outwith these semi-automatic weap-ons,” says Maretsomberly. Shelooks up withsoulful eyes. “Anddid you know thatsome monkeysare alreadythreatened or en-dangered by thetime they are dis-covered?” Thoughshe is young,

Maret wears a pair of gold rimmed glasses as shereads and her hair is pulled back in a bun. Despite heryoung years she is well educated and considered anexpert on many animals.

Back out in the wilds of Africa, the fifteen mon-keys sit in the tree. They are eating leaves and small

Jamai the red-tailed monkey has beautiful cop-per colored eyes.

This is part of Jamai red-tailed monkey family. The baby is half a year oldand still stays close to mother’s watchful eye.

Top left is the colorfulmale African crownedcrane is threatened inthe wild. Right, is ayoung southern lesserkudo. The giraffe, likethis reticulated one be-low left, is killed bypoachers, due in part tothe tourist trade in gi-raffe hair bracelets.

Check point guards, inthe few places they areposted, stop vehicles,search them and confis-cate any endangeredspecies they find. Unfor-tunately, the animals arealready dead, but confis-cating them keeps thebushmeat hunter fromselling them, hopefullydiscouraging futurehunting.

fruits. The mon-keys love sweetfruits. Scientistshave discoveredthat foods tastethe same to mon-keys as they do tous. After all, mon-keys and apes areour closest rela-tives. When biggerkinds of bushmeat,like African buffaloget scarce, smallerbushmeat likemonkeys arehunted even more.

Sometimes the safari tour guides drive by in LandRovers full of tourists. They watch the monkeys in thetree. And Tomas the dark haired tour guide has givenall the monkeys names. “Look,” he says. “That is thefemale with the beautiful copper eyes and a specialsymmetrical swirl on her crown. I call her Jamali (JAH-mah-lee). And there”, he points, “that medium sizedone is the one with the crooked tail. I call her Dafina.(DAH-fee-nah). She is my favorite,” he says. “When Ibring tourists to the tree she takes food from myhand.”

Thomas is very popular with tourists because hehas learned to recognize all the monkeys individually.

Many guenon monkeys such as the mona gue-non, were once very plentiful in Africa.

“They are distinctive like human beings,” he tellspeople. “Just watch them for awhile. Their personali-

ties began toshow. They canbe recognizedby the waythey move:some monkeysare more confi-dent, othersare shy; someare more ner-vous, othersare calm;some, like thecrooked tailedDafina,” he tellsthem, “evenseem to have asense of hu-mor.”

When ba-bies are bornTomas namesthem all. “Thatone is littleMwinyi (m-

WEEN-yee). He is handsome and strong,” smilesTomas. “Some day, if he lives, he will be the leader ofthis tree.”

Baboons are large ground dwelling monkeys who, in someareas, are shot or trapped in wire snares. Other baboon-like monkeys called drills and mandrills are seriously en-dangered, but nevertheless, still hunted illegally.

Back in thecity the menand women atthe conserva-tion office arestill talking.

“There wasa time whenmonkeysbounced on ev-ery treebranch,” saysMaret in herquiet steadyvoice. “Andmany ground living monkeys ran about the bush aswell.”*

Hannah raises her brow, “And don’t you know thatone kind of colobus monkey (Miss Waldron’s colobusmonkey) has already disappeared entirely from WestAfrica? It is now extinct!”

A student volunteer speaks up. ”But where did allthe monkeys go?” `1 he asks. It is Kim, the Americanstudent from the market place.

“They went the same place all the elephantswent,” steams Hannah.

Thomas has stories of many types of threatened animals,including the mona guenon monkey, above. Mona gue-nons are also called ‘masked monkeys’.

(*Africans refer to forest as bush.)

“And the sameplace all the leopardswent,” Karl strokes hisbeard. “And the duik-ers! And the baboons,the gorillas and thechimpanzees!”

“They went in thestew pot,” saysHannah. “And theywent on the bushmeatroasting stick.”

“What will happento this tree of 15 mon-keys,” the conserva-tionists wonder? “Andall the other animalsas well,” they ask.

Kim volunteers toput up signs aroundthe market placewhere bushmeat issold, but many of thebushmeat hunters can-not read.

A local bushmeathunter named Brafo

The True Story Of Lowland GorillaJombo:

Jombo is a large, silverback gorilla wholives in a zoo. Silverbacks are the domi-nant gorilla in their group. When a malereaches maturity, he develops silvery greyhairs on his back and is called a“silverback”. In a group of gorillas, asilverback is usually the only dominantmember. Living with him will be severalfemales, infants, juveniles and youngadults.

It is Jombo’s job as head gorilla to boss andreprimand the other gorillas. It is his job toprotect them as well. Gorillas are the larg-est living primates, and Jombo is the larg-est gorilla in the exhibit weighing 300 to350 pounds. Also it is known that adultmale gorillas are at least 10 times strongerthan an adult human.

One day a small boy of about 2 years oldfalls over the gorilla exhibit’s upper wall.He falls (continued...)

When mature, the dark gorillamale develops a silver back;thewattled crane is the largest andrarest crane in Africa; gereneks,below, freeze to hide frompredators and are threatened inthe wild. (Males have horns.)

The fur of the patasmonkey is quite redeven in youngsters.But the patas mon-key infant is blackfor the first twomonths of life. Aslogging roads openthe way into theforests of equato-rial Africa, thepatas monkey andthe thirty sevenspecies of guenonmonkeys are primetargets beinghunted by humansfor the illegal bush-meat trade. A num-ber of species ofthe forest dwellingguenons are criti-cally endangered.

Left, the groundhornbill is listed asvulnerable in SouthAfrica and now oc-cur only in re-serves. In folklorethe Masai believethat the Africanground hornbillshould never bekilled because it willbring bad luck. Ifone lands on theroof of a house, theoccupants mustmove at once orthey believe deathwill ensue.

walks through the market.Brafo’s son reads one of thesigns to him. It says, “Please donot kill our African monkeys, ourgazelles, our forest elephantsour gorillas and chimpanzees.Please do not buy and sell bush-meat.”

“And why not?” the bush-meat hunter asks his son. “Whatare we supposed to eat then,eh? And where will I get moneyif I have no bushmeat to sell?

(continued...) about ten feetstraight down into the gorillasyard and is knocked uncon-scious when he hits a shallowconcrete ditch below. Theboy’s name is Levon.

Many people are standing upabove at the wall whereLevon has fallen and one istaking a video tape. In his t-shirt and jeans, Levon lookslifeless as he lays in the ditchbelow. On the one side of theditch is the gorillas 10 footescape-proof wall. On theother side of the ditch, justtwo feet above, is a grassygarden full of large gorillas. Afemale gorilla and one of herfemale young start towardthe small boy. Adult femalesweigh about half as much asmales.

But Jombo decides to use hissize and male authority toblock the way of the twofemale gorillas. It is thesilverback leader who is theemotional center, the magnetof the group as well as theboss. He stands mightily onthe edge of the grass be-tween the female gorillas andthe unconscious boy. Jomboseems to be guarding thesmall boy but his mother andthe crowd are not sure.

The other gorillas mindJombo’s silent order to moveaway. Jombo turns his back tothe gorillas and looks (contin-ued...)

Many animals such as the giraffe and thepatas monkey feed on Africa’s drought tol-erant acacia and other thorny foliage.

(continued...) down at the boy.Then he looks up at the crowd as ifto say, This boy does not belong inhere. Now who is going to comedown and get him out?

The crowd is still fearing for theyoung boy’s life. Has he been hurtby the fall? What is the true moodof the giant male silverback? Oneway gorillas communicate by beat-ing on their chests, or on theground and for the silverbackmale, chest-beating is a show ofpower. Will Jombo become angryand turn on the boy? On theground, gorillas usually walk on allfours, supporting most of theirweight on the feet and walking onthe large front knuckles. NowJombo is posed on all fours besidethe concrete moat.

The crowd tries to quiet itself, soas not to disturb or upset the goril-las. They see Jombo reach downtoward the boy with his dark-furred hand. The boy looks veryfrail and still lays helpless in theditch. The crowd holds their breathin fear. Then the massive gorillalooks down and gently stokes theboy’s back. He strokes the boytwice.

Then Levon wakes up. He is veryyoung and does not understandthat he has fallen into the gorilla’smoat. Then he looks up he seesthe huge gorilla. Levon’s eyes meetJombo’s eyes. It is the silverbackleader who decides when the ac-tivities of the day begin and finish;when he moves, everyone moves;when he stops to rest, everyonestops. His (continued...)

“Besides,” he says, “Af-rica is a very big place.*How will they stop me?”

The next conservationsign says, “Many kinds of Af-rican animals have few left.They have been hunted too

The vervet monkey lives both on the groundand in the trees. It is often killed as a croppest. In African countries where there is alimit on the number of monkeys that can beshot, it has been found that additional mon-keys are sometimes killed with the untrue ex-cuse that they were raiding crops.

(* Africa encompasses 20% of theworld’s total landmass. You could fitthe continental United States, India,China, Brazil, Argentina and WesternEurope into the Africa and still haveroom to spare.)

rapidly and cannot replenish themselves. When theyare gone there will be no more.”

“Oh,” says Brafo to his son. “I don’t believe it. Insome spots, they are just well hidden in the bush

(continued...) magneticpower not only from hissize but the fact that he isthe protector and every-body follows him. Levon iscrying now but the hugesilverback Jombo backsaway. When he doesthe gorillas move with (conhim toward their insidehouse.

When the gorillas disappearindoors, the paramedicsclimb down and pull the boyto safety. It seems like amiracle. Young Levon isokay.

As an older boy, Levon stillremembers looking directlyinto Jombo’s eyes. He in-stantly felt a strong bondfor Jombo that he still feelsfor the gentle gorilla today.He would ask you, do notkill gorillas. They areunique but very humanlike and should be allowed to live with their familiesin peace in the wilds of Africa.

Once it was fashionable in to embellish, exaggerate or sensationalize storiesabout large apes like gorillas. But after much study in modern times, thetrue nature of the gorilla is now better understood: Gorillas like the adultfemale above, can have a playful sense of humor like humans, are verymuch like humans in intelligence, like humans in depth of feeling, and canbe extremely caring and gentle as well.

This is part of Mwinyimkuu’s fam-ily. They sit peacefully and groom.Their long tails are used for bal-ance when running on narrow tightrope like branches and whenleaping to escape predators. With the help of their leader, the bossmale Mwinyimkuu, they escape many great hunting cats. But they donot have a fair chance to escape when men hunt them with semiau-tomatic guns.

when we pass by.And in other placesyou see them bythe dozens. Be-sides, the leopardhunts and kills andso does cheetah,the lion, the wilddog and the hy-ena!”*

Brafo’s sonreads another con-servation sign outloud. “Wildlifeguard wanted. Willpay if qualified.”

“I should takethat job,” scoffs thehunter. “I have agun. I could guardand hunt at thesame time.” Brafo’s son does not like the joke. He goesto school. He is interested in what the conservationpeople have to say.

Out in the wilds, the 15 monkeys climb and eatsome more and groom each other’s fur. The smiling

As is the way of most African monkeys, the oldmale or boss monkey, who Tomas has named‘Mwinyimkuu’, has many wives and young.

(*Two types of hyenas are threatened in the wild. Because they areknown as predators of preferred bushmeat animals, hyenas have beenpoisoned and shot in attempt to exterminate them. )

tour guide passes by them again with a gang of tour-ists from many countries. All of the tourists admirethe beautiful fur of the monkeys. They admire theirantics as well, and they love the stories that Tomastells.

Thomas’s favorite story is one about Dafina thered-tailed monkey. She likes to steal his hat. He alsotells about a big male gorilla named Jombo, and of thefemale gorilla named Koko in America who knowsmany sign language words. Koko can sign herthoughts and wishes back and forth with humans.

Tomas knows the tourists pay large sums to stayin Africa and visit it’s wildlife and that this moneygoes into the African economy is a very good thing forthe African people. “I make money from the touristsso I can feed my children farmed meat instead of

Many rare and endangered animals, like the chimpanzee, above left, the dik-dik, above right, bear only a single young. But a female dik-dik may start bearingyoung at the age of only 6 to 10 months; In contrast, the female chimpanzeemust be 13 to 15 YEARS old before having her first young.

bushmeat,” he thinks to himself.

Out loud he says to the tourists, “Please. Do noteat bushmeatof any kindwhen youtravel in Af-rica.”

Mwinyimkuu(m-ween-yeem-KOO) isthe name thetour guide hasgiven to theold male. He isthe biggest ofall the mon-keys in thetree and he isthe boss. Theold male is likea great kingfor his family.He watchesout for themothers andall of theiryoung.Mwinyimkuuhas sevenwives and

Monkeys like this mandrill baboon are seriously en-dangered and need protection in the wild. The malemandrill, above, is more colorful than the female,and as is the way with many African monkeys, themale is larger than the female.

there is oneyoung for eachmother.

The day isturning to duskso the touristssnap their mon-key picturesquickly. Tomasknows at duskthe monkey fam-ily will huddle to-gether in thebranches andsleep. Such is theway of mostmonkeys wholive in the Africanwilds. In themorning they will

rise again to groom and hunt for food.

But Tomas worries. Can his beloved monkeys sur-vive the lawless bushmeat hunters? Can the elephantsand the cheetah? And what of the tourists? Will thethey still come from hundreds and thousands of milesaway to see Africa if there are no monkeys left sittingin the tree?*

Monkeys like the beautiful de Brazza guenon may belegally or illegally shot and sold as bushmeat. Thesemonkeys may swim to escape predators and may alsofreeze. They have been known to freeze as long aseight hours to hide themselves from predators. Yet theseamazing defenses are useless for the de Brazza mon-key when dealing with the well-equipped poachers andbushmeat hunters of today.

(*Many tourists already avoid African parks and reserves because theyare over crowded tourists.)

Back in the city at the conservation office, themen and women are up early working out figures.Seven young, plus seven mothers and one old maleadds up to fifteen monkeys.

“If all the monkeys live,” says Karl, “each of themothers will make another baby in one year, some-times a baby only every two years. If the mother andfather monkeys are left alone to reproduce them-selves, slowly over time they can make more youngto grow and fill the rainforests and the savannas.”

“Yes,” saysthe quiet voiceof animal ex-pert Maret.“Monkeys arevery differentfrom the wildbush pigs. Onemother bushpig can makeyoung severaltimes a year,producing upto seventeenoffspring.”

“Apes re-produce evenfewer youngthan mon-

Most people think of hyenas as scavengers (who eatonly dead animals) but hyenas are hunters too. Thespotted hyena hunts up to 95% of its food and hyenascan run up to 40 miles per hour to catch prey (The patasmonkey, also a fast runner, is sometimes hunted by thehyena.) The striped hyena bears one liter of up to sixyoung a year. Both striped and brown hyenas are threat-ened and the spotted hyena has reduced numbers.

keys,” shecontinues.“Mountaingorillasbear onlyone youngevery fouryears.”

Theconserva-tionistskeep figur-ing. If themotherand fathermonkeysin the treeare killed,there willbe no oneto make

new young. The young need to survive also in orderto grow up and bear more young. The more monkeysthat are killed each year, the fewer new monkeys willbe born the following years. Such is the way of allanimals.

Like the primates, other threatened or endangeredanimals, such as the cheetah, the elephant and theforest buffalo, reproduce new young slowly.

Vervet monkeys, above, spend some of their time in the treesand some on the ground (called semiterrestrial or semi-grounddwelling). The father monkey is the largest, with the mother be-ing half a head or more smaller. They huddle around the infant tokeep him warm and to protect him from the sight of overheadmonkey-eating eagles, which will swoop down to grab a smallmonkey with their large talons. Vervets and other monkeys knowinstinctively how to protect themselves from natural predators.They can even protect themselves by fleeing from more primi-tive dart, sword and knife hunters. But their running speed andother flight responses are no match for bushmeat hunters withguns.

In the conservation office, at last Karl the directorhas found a guard for hire. Willem is a weathered man,able to withstand the hot rays of the African sun. “He isfrom the Congo,” says Karl. “He knows the country sideof Africa well. He will guard all the monkeys and apesfor us. And he will guard the elephants, the wildebeest,the gazelles, the cheetah, and maybe the hyena.” Theothers check their list to see if the hyena needs protect-ing.

“Most people don’t like hyenas anyway,” says one.“Maybe we will not protect them. But our guard willprotect the gorillas and the chimpanzees,” they say.

“Is itright to ig-nore the hy-ena just be-cause peopledon’t likehim?” asksthe Ameri-can studentKim.

“No,”they decide.“It is notright. If heis threat-ened or en-dangered,

Whenever reserve guards are posted there is much territory tocover. Guards may also be posted on the road with roadblocks,ready to search passing vehicles. Sadly, guards are some-times shot and killed by commercial poachers.

even anunpopularone suchas the hy-ena needsto be pro-tected!”

“Here,here,” saysKarl.“These areexcellentplans.”

Thenthey make

a chart. Nasi, a man who used to work in a reserve, isan expert on monkeys. “This chart,” he says, “is apopulation chart projecting their reproduction rate.”

The conservation workers are doing math again,adding up monkeys. “If we’re lucky,” says Nasi, “andall red-tailed mothers have babies, that could raisetheir number to twenty one.”

“The second year: Adding the new babies, if we’relucky, will give a total of twenty seven monkeys.”

“ This will be a good start in the right direction,” saysMaret.

Bushmeat hunters have many easy targets, like this warthogfamily. Ground living monkeys like the drill are also easy targets.Many endangered species, however, do not reproduce them-selves as quickly as warthogs, who have up to six offspring.

Logging roads, above, allowanyone to travel into once un-accessible jungle. Unknownwild life is still being be discov-ered. The danger is that newspecies will be killed off byhunters before being saved.

The adult patas monkey, right,is making a threat face, a de-fense used to frighten off in-truders and protect his group.Because all of the intelligentprimates (monkeys andapes) are protected by theConvention on Interna-tional Trade in Endan-gered Species (CITES),they are not allowed to beexported to zoos forbreeding programs. Thisleaves their future solelyin the hands of those wholive in Africa.

A young ground living patasmonkey, top left, digging forroots; the spot-nosed guenonmonkey top right, lives highamong the branches.

Bottom left and right, neitherpeople nor African flamingosare threatened on the planetearth. Overpopulation meansthat the species can repro-duce itself much faster thanmembers are lost.

Out in the wilds, Willem the guard is stationedwith his old jeep. He wears a green camouflage hatand camouflage clothes. Some times he walks andsometimes he rides around the territory in his jeep.Sometimes he waves to the tourist guide and hischeerful safari group. Sometimes he sits alone mostof the day in the shade of a rock or tree and watchesthe bushmeat animals come and go. By now Willemhas met Tomas the tour guide and heard the name ofeach monkey in the tree.

But one day when Willem the guard is way overwatching the elephants, here comes Brafo, the bush-meat hunter with his unhappy son. They are both lay-ing out of sight as they watch the monkey tree. Thebushmeat hunter says to his son, “I am a poor manyou know. Ihave nomoney andno job andnothing tosell formoney butmeat. And,”he says, “Ihave nomeat to huntand sell butbushmeat.Huntingbushmeat iswhat I

Bonobo chimpanzees, also called pygmy chimpanzees,touch, pat and embrace each other for reassurance.

In nature, if left alone by poachers and bushmeat hunters, the African elephant canlive 60 to 70 years. Elephants have also been killed for their ivory tusks. Overpopu-lation threatens them too, as people compete for their living space. Female el-ephants, called cows, do not bear young until they are 13 years old and have oneyoung only every five years.

know,” he tells the boy. “And no one should mind if Ishoot a few,” he says, “There are plenty more wherethey came from!”

“I wish to do better than that when I grow up,”thinks his son Adisa, but he dares not speak the wordsout loud.

Then, because no one is looking,* the bushmeat(*When guards are present, a single guard may be assigned areas of100,000 hectares or more. But, even so, they appear to have some de-terrent effect on poachers.)

The young play constantly, learning to be agile and swift in the trees.

The large man-dril baboon isconsidered tobe ferociouslooking. Foundin westernAfrica, thecolorful malemandril is thegroup’s watch-dog, constantlyon the alert forpredators. Ifbaring his teethdoes not scareoff an intruder,the adult malewill work him-self into afrenzy, jumpingup and down.Bright redspots will ap-pear on hiswrists andankles and hischest will turna vivid blue. Itis believed thatthis colorchange is pro-duced by aspecializedcirculatoryfunction.

Male mandrills are sometimes over twice the size of females, weighing from 44to 62 pounds. The males’ massive heads appear too large for their bodies, andthey have a blue to purple naked rump which is more dull in females and juve-niles. The male’s muzzle is large, the nose is bright red with blue, ridged swell-ing running lengthwise on either side. The males bright red and blue colors, aresult of male hormones, are perceived as threat signals by male rivals.

Mandrills are a fairly shy baboon found in the high moist forests and low levelsof trees and forest floor. They may also act as crop pests, raiding the fruit ofthe oil palm and manioc from nearby farmers.

Mandrills are highly endangered due to habitat loss and the fact that (cont.)

(cont.) they are exten-sively hunted for food.Because of their unusualcoloring and appearance,like the hyena, the man-drill baboon is less popularthan some endangeredspecies, but deserves tobe protected and savednonetheless. (The smaller,less colorful female man-drill, right.)

Because most monkeys inAfrica (around 50 differ-ent subspecies) are treedwelling, they can rarelybe seen by tourists. Be-cause tourists can’t viewthem on the ground, asthey can the gorilla, evenwhen endangered, thesemonkeys cannot be madeinto tourist attractions.Because they cannot be

made into tourist attractions,they are of less monetary valueto local governments than ani-mals who are easily viewed andthey are less likely to be espe-cially protected. Add that CITESmade it illegal for these monkeysto be taken out of Africa, wherethey could be bred in zoos andthat the local people like to eatthem as bushmeat and you willsee their fate is very uncertain.

The Waldrapp ibis, left, is foundin northern Africa. The Waldrappibis is one of the world’s mostcritically threatened bird speciesdue to loss of habitat, uncon-trolled hunting, and the fact thattheir meat is considered a deli-cacy.

hunter raises his gun. To the bushmeat hunter’s son,the big monkey Mwinyimkuu looks frightful and mean.But Mwinyimkuu is opening his mouth and showingteeth because he sees a hunter with a gun.

To Mwinyimkuu the monkey, the bushmeat hunterlooks more frightening than even the greatest spottedleopard who comes to eat his young.

Then the bushmeat hunter’s gun points at the treewhere Mwinyimkuu and his family sit. Mwinyimkuu

Loggers bulldoze more and more roads to get to trees for lumber. Poachers andother bushmeat hunters use these same roads to travel on by vehicle. This is badnews for the wild life of Africa. This area might have been too thick to travel throughbefore. But now the logging roads enable commercial hunters to travel faster andfarther for bushmeat and to carry more back after they have killed it.

knows the ways of man. He knows that when the darkgun makes its loud noise, leaves and bits of bark willfly and some of his family will suddenly fall dead fromthe tree. He makes a loud warning sound to his wivesand his children, but it is too late.

Willemthe guardcan hear theloud gunshots. Buteven withhis jeep heis much toofar away.Bang, bang,bang. Thena pause andbang, bang,bang, bang.And thenthe samesoundsagain.Willem isalarmed! Hestarts doingmath.

Eleven shots fired. Surely some have missed but justas surely some have hit. His stomach goes into aknot. Now he will lose his job. And his friend Tomas

A female mona guenon monkey like this one may bear oneyoung (or rarely twins) every other year when the female isthree to five years old. Mona guenon mothers will intertwinetheir tail with the tail of their young as they sit in a tree.

the tour guide will be very sad.

Willem gets to the tree in time to see a loggingtruck driving off in the distance.*

To Willem all the monkeys in the tree all look the

The lion usually has three cubs but may have as many as six and as few as one.

(*Drivers of logging trucks are known to work with poachers, while someworkers at logging camps are suspected of poaching themselves. Alongwith the bushmeat trade, there is the smuggling of guns (to be sold topoachers) and ivory (from elephants illegally killed by poachers). Guardswho patrol logging roads find large amounts of bushmeat stashed underthe logs and guns hidden under the vehicle’s seats.)

same. But he knows that Tomas can distinguish everymonkey in the tree. Now Willem has called him to thetree. A tear runs down Tomas’s cheek. And then an-other. It is a sad day for him. He scans the tree foreach face. He says their names. Sometimes Tomashas given them sweet fruit, for he has a great love forthe creatures of the wild. A few monkeys peer out attheir trusted friend Tomas. But they remember thebushmeat hunter and the blood of their kin. Theireyes are still crazy with sadness and fear.

Although one may still see herd animals in large groups in Africa, they can easily bekilled off in high numbers when bushmeat hunters and poachers travel in vehiclesinstead of hunting on foot and use semiautomatic weapons.

More tears roll from Tomas’s eyes and it is hard forhim to count. He finds only three mother monkeyswhere there used to be seven. He finds just threeyoung left where there also used to be seven.

“Maybe they ran away and did not get shot,” saysWillem hopefully.

“We can only wish forthat,” says Tomas. Butthey see there is toomuch blood.

Back at the conser-vation office they hearabout the bushmeathunter and his son.They hang their heads.Soon the dead bush-meat monkeys will besold and eaten. Theyare sought after be-cause they are unusualin taste. And touristslike to try exotic foods.“What are they think-ing?!” Hannah asks withbitterness. Nasi, the monkey expert, is silent but hisface grows very red.

The next day, four monkeys show up in the market

Lowland gorillas, like the Western Lowlandgorilla male above, may be found in zoosoutside of Africa but the endangered moun-tain gorilla is found only in Africa.

on roasting spits. One is medium sized with acrooked tail. Four babies are for sale, live. A liveyoung monkey is sold like a young goat or a youngcow. It may be kept for a pet or raised like livestockand killed when it is big enough to eat.

Tomashears thisand he sobs.“Oh my beau-tiful Jamali,”he wails,“and my pre-cious Dafina.I have lostMalika (MAH-lee-kah) andBuqisi(BOOH-kee-see) too. AndI have lost allof their beau-tiful young aswell, Dunia,Nyota,Shanira, andZuvan.

Talk isbuzzing inthe conserva-tion office.

The cape buffalo, one of the largest animals on the Africanplains, is related to the forest buffalo and bears one youngevery year and a half. The cape buffalo forms well organizedgroups to fend off predators. When the buffalo drinks andwades in mud at the watering hole, oxpeckers, small birds,peck parasites from the large animals’ coats. These buffaloare also targeted by trophy hunters from other countries.

Nasi the monkey expert is red-faced again. He shakeshis head.

“Every small-time bushmeat hunter thinks he cantake just a few,” he says, “but there are thousands ofsmall-time bushmeat hunters!”

Now the conservation people are frowning andwringing their hands. They are making figures again.First they add the monkeys up and then they subtract

Danger is all around. Monkeys watch carefully for predators of their young, whichinclude monkey-eating eagles, large snakes and big cats. Although monkey havepredators in the wild, man is by far the most destructive towards wildlife in Africa.

them.

Now they arestarting withfewer monkeys,so projections arelower.

“This numberis unacceptable!”Nasi’s face growsredder as hespeaks. “Sevenmonkeys in a treewhere there usedto be so many!And what willhappen when thebig-time bush-meat huntersstrike?”

“Becausewhen the guard iswatching the el-

ephants,” says Nasi “he can’t see the monkeys so themonkeys can be shot and carried away. And when hewatches the monkeys, the wildebeests can be shot,and when he watches the wildebeests the gorillas andelephants can be shot, and so on.” Nasi hangs hishead. “We all know this,” he says.

Most native animals, like the Zambian sable antelopeare losing space to human encroachment. In the lasthalf century, the population of the world has more thandoubled. This effects Africa (along with its own risingpopulation), because the people create demand forrainforest wood.

The government officials get a call from Nasi andKarl at the conservation office. “But what are we to doabout this bushmeat hunting anyway?” the govern-ment officials ask. “We sell licenses for hunting andthe hunters use them to cheat. We put limits on bush-meat andpeople ignorethem. We makelaws againstkilling endan-gered animalsand the peoplebreak them. Wesend out guardsand the poach-ers trickthem.”*

Back at theconservationoffice they haveanother meet-ing. They drinktheir coffeesand colas andthink. Now theyare sendingpeople out intothe villages to

People of all counties and all cultures have a tendency toover populate. Too many people use too many resources,such as more land and more lumber from forests forhouses. When this happens, the animals who lived thereusually have no where to go. In South Africa, displacedmonkeys sometimes try to live along side humans in thecity. Overpopulation of humans, both in Africa and theworld, is truly at the bottom of the wildlife loss in Africa.

(*The high-value of bushmeat can result in many citizen hunters over-shooting their license quotas for commercial gain. High trophy huntingvalues also lead to a black market in selling citizen licenses.)

speak tohunters andtheir fami-lies, to try toreason withthem re-garding thehunting ofthreatenedwildlife. Theconserva-tionists askthemselveswhat morethey can do.“Let’s callthe govern-ment officesagain andagain,” saysKim, thestudent.

“Let’s tellthem, ‘Wakeup! We are

in the middle of a bushmeat crisis’,” says Nasi.

“They need more pressure from other govern-ments!” says Hannah hotly.

“Perhaps they really cannot see clear solutions,”

Africa is rapidly becoming urbanized and incomes arerising. In the cities, many people see bushmeat as ameans of keeping a cultural link with their home village.Bushmeat is now often considered a symbol of luxuryand prestige. Delicacies such as elephant trunks, mon-key limbs and gorilla hands are sold in city restaurantsfor more than US $60.00 per dish.

says Karl. He strokes his beard. Then he admits,“There really is no easy solution for such a complexproblem involving so many people in so many walks oflife.”

Back inthe mar-ket placeBrafostrollspast thestalls andscoffs atthe hang-ing bush-meat.“And Ihave themoney forit in mypocket!”hebrags.*

Backin theconserva-tion office they make a list of things that don’t makesense: Nasi says, “In Tanzania the cost for a citizen’s li-

When human civilization over populates and moves out into theanimals’ territory, monkeys like this pair of swamp guenons can beseen climbing on roof tops and garden walls. Monkeys, especiallythe ground loving vervet monkeys, are often shot as “crop pests”when they raid human corn fields.

(*Fifty percent of Africans live on less than $1 per day, so bushmeathunters can make considerably more.)

cense tohunt a CapeBuffalo isten US dol-lars com-pared to theanimal’smeat valueof 211 USdollars. Forsafari trophyhunting**value of thesame animalis 800 USdollars!”

Hannahsays thisdoesn’tmake senseeither. “Na-

tive people say they like the taste of larger animalslike bush pig and impala. These are big animals too,so each kill supplies a lot of meat. Why not farmthese native animals and leave the endangered onesalone?”

Their conversation is still heavy. “It’s partly aneconomic problem”, says Maret the gorilla expert. “We

Mountain gorillas are peaceable animals who do not prey onother animals for food, but live on a diet of leaves and insects.When cooked and dried in bits, gorilla meat resembles anyother kind of bushmeat. Whether you are native to Africa, to aEuropean capitol city or visiting these places as a tourist, thebest way to avoid eating endangered species is to avoid eat-ing any bushmeat at all.

(**Foreign tourists pay these large sums to ‘trophy hunt’ and kill cer-tain African animals.)

need more money to pay more guards to enforcehunting rules.”

“That is all true,” says Nasi. “And we need moneyto educate the bushmeat hunter and teach him otherways to make a living!”

“Where can we get the money for all this teach-ing?” asks anew Japanesestudent.

“That is thequestion thebushmeathunter asks,”Karl says. Hestrokes hisbeard. “Wherecan HE getmoney. That isthe questionALL the peopleof Africa ask.Yet there ismuch money tobe made fromtourists whocome to seethe wildlife re-serves. And

The ground-living patas monkey is one of the few mon-keys who dig the soil surface lightly in search of seedsand grubs. When foraging, the patas monkey looks veryvulnerable to predators such as the leopard and the hy-ena. But the patas monkey can run over 35 miles per hourto escape such predators. This speed and ability to out-run predators has ensured their survival for hundreds ofyears. Sadly, the patas monkey too could be wiped out bythe bushmeat hunter with a gun.

there is money to be made from well-managed meatcrop farming as well.”

In the conservation office the men and women ar-gue with passion. “No we should NOT educate thebush hunters,” says Hannah. “We should shoot themor throw them in jail!”

Like mountain gorillas, lowland gorillas are equally peaceable in nature. Bush-meat hunters who prey on them and other threatened wildlife can nowmake between US $400 and US $1000.00 per year, much more thanthe average household’s annual income.

“Up to one third of the people in some parts of Af-rica hunt for bushmeat!” says another. “There are toomany bushmeat hunters to jail them all,” he says.

Back in the market place, the conservation volun-teers put out another sign. “Government must jail

Their large size and aggressive nature make the forest buffalo, also calledAfrican, or Cape Buffalo, difficult quarry for predators. Only the lion andrarely the spotted hyena, which will prey on newborn calves and sick orold animals, are considered wildlife enemies. The Cape Buffalo, however,is a member of the so-called “Big Five”, along with the elephant, lion,leopard and rhino, who are favorite kill for big game trophy hunters. Thelarge Cape Buffalo Bulls possess impressive horns that are highly desir-able to trophy hunting tourists.

A young red-tailed monkey from Mwinyimkuu’s family for-ages and explores in the trees.

Bushmeat brings profit in the market placeespecially for big time commercial hunters.

those who will not followthe bushmeat huntinglaws!” Adisa reads thesign out loud to his fa-ther.

“They are wrong,”Brafo scoffs. “Bushmeatbelongs to me because Ilive in Africa. I shouldnot go to jail. And when

I am the first bushmeat hunter who walks by the tree, Ishould kill the monkey. Otherwise the next bushmeathunter will. First come, first serve,” he jeers.

In theconservationoffice theyhave manyideas. “Thereare just toomany peopleeating bush-meat,” saysanother.“Say youhave a mil-lion peoplewho eachwant to eatone bushanimal every

year and the next year you have two million. Thatmeans one million extra bush animals will be gone. Weshould not make so many people!”

“Arethere twomillionpeople in Af-rica?” asksthe new stu-dent.

“No,” an-swers an-other. “Thereare many,many more.*The peopleover-popu-late andcrowd outthe animal’sspace.”

“This happens all over the world,” says Karl. “Therainforest is torn down to make room for more people,or to cut trees for wood so more people can buildhomes or to graze cattle so more people can eat beef.People need to farm small animals like the goat instead

The giraffe has only one relative, the okapi. This masai giraffelives on the open savannas eats from thorny acacia trees.Giraffes have one young about every year and a half. Younggiraffes have several predators but the full grown giraffe isthreatened only by lions and humans.

(*The population of Africa is 900 million people; Africa is home to 14% ofthe world’s population. Seventy one percent of the population of Africa isunder the age of 25.)

of beef.”

The con-servationpeople writean educa-tional bro-chure tohand out tochildren inAfrican andEuropeanschools. Nasithe monkeyexpert hangsa copy ontheir officewall:

YOU Can Stop The Bushmeat Crisis

Help spread these facts: No one needs to eatbushmeat to survive or as a source of protein. Thereare better, more replenishable kinds of protein to eat.Chickens, goats, rabbits and pig are fast producingmeat crops. African animals like the warthog alsomake many young, are not endangered and they canbe farmed too.

Here are some facts: Bushmeat now is now usedfor 50 to 80 percent of the protein needs of local com-munities in some parts of Africa. Bushmeat animalsare hunted everywhere in Africa, even in once dense

The meerkat, also called south African surocate, is sometimeskept in households in South Africa as a pet. It is also kept for itsability to catch mice and rats.

Considered near threatened, the Okapis are legally protected butstill hunted. Because they are reclusive, their numbers can’t be countedaccurately. They have been hurt by civil war and loss of habitat. Al-though long hunted for food by the native peoples of the Ituri Forest,this subsistence hunting has never been a threat to the species. Whetherthis population is stable, increasing, or declining is not known, but it isapparent that their range is decreasing where forest is being cut downor converted to farmland.

The Okapi Nature reserve in Zaire is also home to other threatenedmammals, like the African elephant, the African golden cat, the aquaticcivet, and the clawless otter. It is also home to rare birds such as thespotted ibis, black-collared lovebird, and the golden-naped weaver.

FACT: There are many people for government officials and wild lifeconservation groups to interact with regarding the bushmeat crisis.These include the small-time hunter, the big-time commercial hunter,the middleman who buys from the hunter and sells to the market (alsocalled a ‘buy-um sell-um’ in pigeon English), the (cont. on next page)

Red river hogs, right,are found in thickets,forests, savannas andswamps throughoutwestern and centralAfrica.

Although red riverhogs may come outduring the day, theyare most active dur-ing the night. Duringthe day they oftenmake resting bor-oughs in deep impen-etrable vegetation.When the young arefrightened, theycrouch and “play pos-sum”. As they getolder, they usuallyrun. Red river hogsare fast runners andgood swimmers. How-ever, when corneredor wounded, they of-ten attack. They oftenroot for tubers withtheir plow-like nosesand can cause consid-erable damage tocrops in a short periodof time.

Their main predatorsare humans(bushmeat hunting),leopards, lions thespotted hyena and thepython.

(cont.) restaurants who sell bushmeat and thepatrons who request and eat it. It also includesvillagers who live around and eat endangeredwildlife, logging companies who build roadsthrough the rainforests, loggers who helpsmuggle illegal bushmeat to markets, cattle andagricultural businesses who cut down rainfor-ests for their purposes, and people in other coun-tries who create demand for wood andbushmeat. But tourist agencies, game huntingagencies, game hunters, wildlife park and re-serve management, reserve guards, checkpointguards hired by conservation groups, animal res-cue and rehabilitation groups, and zoos are alsoinvolved as well, and all must be able to makehonest agreements about the bushmeat situa-tion in order to save endangered animals.

and un-touched for-ests.

Many na-tive peoplebelieve theforests holdenough foodfor them andtheir familiesand do notrealize thatspecies arebeing killed toextinction.Once theylearn this,they under-stand the se-riousness ofthe problem.Often they gohome to telltheir familyand friends: do not hunt bushmeat!

In addition, refuse to buy bushmeat. If no onebuys bushmeat, the large scale commercial hunterswill have no one to sell to. These are the hunters whoare doing the most harm to Africa and its wildlife.

Unless we change our ways, many irreplaceable

The jungle trees of Africa cannot protect Mwinyimkuu’sred-tailed monkey relatives from commercialized bushmeathunting.

species are on their wayto extinction. Most Africanconsumers are unin-formed, so they don’tthink of this.

People need to knowthat commercially huntedbushmeat animals are of-ten smoked, then driedand cut into small bitsbefore they are sold. So,as a precaution againstbuying endangered ani-mals, never buy anymeat in that form.

Remember, the best way to avoid eating a monkey, a

Which species will survive and which will not? All monkeys and apes are eitherthreatened are endangered.

chimpanzee, agorilla, orother endan-gered animalis: don’t eatbushmeat atall!

“Here,here,” saysKarl. “Thisbrochure is ajob welldone.”

The volun-teers putmore signs inthe marketplace. Adisareads thesigns out loudto his fatherand anyone else who will listen. “Conservation volun-teers are needed to 1. Guard the animal preserves, 2.To work with government offices and set laws thatwork for animals and people, 3. To teach Africans howto live well without killing Africa’s wildlife.”

Adisa reads a second sign to his father. “We needvolunteers to hand out bushmeat crisis preventionbrochures in the schools. Can YOU help?”

Saharan dorcas gazelles, such as this young adult, areseverely endangered due to bushmeat hunting.

Brafolooks atAdisa andsees the in-terest in hisface. “No!”Brafo growlsat Adisa.“You are notgoing to vol-unteer. Youwill not helpthem to fightthe bushmeathunters likeme!”

Forawhile Adisadoes notspeak.

Others inthe market

place hear Brafo’s loud talk. They come up to him andtake turns speaking. “Extinction means there will beno animals for anyone to eat or profit from or to everenjoy again,” they say. “Many animals are very closeto this right now. Brother,” they tell him, “everyonewill pay the price when these animals are gone.”

The red-tailed guenon is one of 37 different subspecies ofguenon monkeys. These unique and intelligent primates arenative only to Africa.

But will his father listen, even to his adultfriends? Adisa wonders.

Adisa tells his friend Ali, “I will also go to schooluntil I am grown. When I’m a strong man instead ofa boy, then I will help the animals of Africa, not killthem for bushmeat like my father. They will be left inthe tree to make more young.”

The Mhorr’s gazelle, also known as the western dama gazelle, is a me-dium-sized gazelle with short black horns. As with most mammals foundin North Africa they are on the brink of extinction due to over-huntingand habitat destruction. Mhorr’s gazelles are known for having extremelylong legs, which raises their body off the hot desert sand to keep themcool. In addition, their long legs provide extra surface area on their bodyto radiate heat. Typically they have one offspring at a time, and only oneyoung per year.

His father is listening. At last he understands theplight of the bushmeat animals. Brafo hangs his head.“You are right Adisa,” he says. “The ways of the fathercannot always be the ways of the son.”

Back in the conservation office the Japanese stu-dent looks at the conservation chart and asks, “Howmany red-tailed monkeys are left sitting in the tree?”

“Only seven now,” answers Karl.

Later that day they get another report fromWillem the guard. “I am very sad,” he says. “And

All African wildlife, like this female Vaal rhebok, are threatened by habitat loss. Onlythe male Vaal rhebok has horns and Vaal rheboks are widely targeted on trophyhunting safaris. Trophy hunting tourists are supposed to pay licensing fees for theirkills.

Tomas the tour guide is wailing,” he tells them. “Thebig time hunters stuck this time. Two more youngmonkeys have been shot from the tree. And the oldmale Mwinyimkuu, the father of all in the young in thetree, has been shot and killed too. Tomas says by nowhe is beingroasted on aspit or else heis in manysmall pieces ina smoked meatdish.”

“And manyother bush ani-mals were killedat the sametime.” Willemthinks of quit-ting the job.“They came atnight this time,”he says. “I can-not fight theseruthless huntersall day long andall night too.”

Now just four monkeys are left sitting in the tree.Hannah and the Japanese student hug each other andcry. Everyone in the conservation office is shockedand alarmed. They cannot get used to the commercial

Africa is home to some of the most intelligent animals onthe planet, including all species of the great apes, manymonkeys and the African elephant.

hunting of monkeys.

“How many people will it take to stop this animalslaughter?” asks the American student Kim. She hastacked a photo of two red-tailed monkeys, a motherand baby, above her desk for optimism and good luck.

“Many”, answers Karl. “Many in conservation,many in government, many ordinary people, andmany educated people, adults and children alike. Itwill take the difficult task of many honest peopleworking together.”

The status of all monkeys in Africa is “threatened”. Some kinds found in only inAfrica are endangered and at least one type has already become extinct.

“But every oneperson who learnscan teach manyothers,” says thestudent from Ja-pan.

The bell ringson the front doorat the conserva-tionist office andsomeone enters.It is Adisa and hisfriend Ali. “I wantto help,” saysAdisa, “and sodoes my friend.”

Nasi gives Adisa and Ali booklets to take into theschools. He shakes their hands in gratitude.

In the conservation office, they thank all who help.And all those who want to help.

But they wonder, will it be enough?

The magnificent drill, an endangered monkey, is stillillegally hunted.

Glossary:

bush·meat, In Africa, forest is often called ‘the bush’.Bushmeat means the meat of all wild animals, eventhreatened, endangered or critically endangered ani-mals. Animals like gorillas, chimpanzees, monkeys,forest antelope, crocodile, elephant; forest antelope(duikers); porcupine; bush pig; cane rat; pangolin;monitor lizard; guinea fowl; etc. hunted and killed forselling and eating.

com·mer·cial, done with regard to profit, designed fora large market, emphasizing skills and subjects usefulin business.

con·ser·va·tion, a careful managed protection of thenatural world, planned management of a resource toprevent waste or destruction.

con·sum·er, one that consumes or uses economicgoods.

cri·sis, the turning point for better or worse, the deci-sive moment, an unstable or crucial time or state ofaffairs in which a decisive change is impending; espe-cially: one with the distinct possibility of a highly un-desirable outcome.

crops, plants or animals or plant or animal productthat can be grown and harvested extensively for profitor subsistence.

de·for·es·ta·tion, removal of forests, usually rapidlyand over large areas

e·co·nom·ic, makes profit, makes money.

ed·u·cate, to provide schooling for, to train by formalinstruction in a skill, trade, or profession, or to de-velop morally by instruction, to provide with informa-tion, to persuade to feel, believe, or act in a desiredway.

en·dan·gered species, any species of plant or animalthat is threatened with extinction.

ex·tinct, the dying out of a race, species or subspe-cies so that it no longer exists. Extinction occurswhen a species can no longer reproduce at replace-ment levels.

gov·ern·ment official rulers or rule makers, a bodyof persons who are the governing authority of a coun-try.

guard, an armed person or force whose job is tomaintain order in certain areas and to patrol them,armed forces that are charged with the enforcementof hunting laws.

hunt·er, a person who hunts and kills game animals.

ir·re·place·able: not replaceable, can’t be restored,nothing can take its place

le·gal: relating to the law, permitted by establishedlaws or rules.

lux·u·ry: excess; something adding to pleasure orcomfort but not absolutely necessary.

of·fi·cial: one who holds an office, one who adminis-ters the rules.

off·spring, the progeny or young of an animal.park: an enclosed piece of ground stocked with gameand held for recreation.

poach·er: one who kills or takes wild animals illegally.

pop·u·la·tion control: to regulate, limit or reduce thewhole number of people or inhabitants in a country orregion.

pre·serve: to keep safe from injury, harm, or destruc-tion to protect.

pri·mate, in zoology, any mammal group that includeshumans, apes, monkeys, and related forms (as lemursand tarsiers). The order Primates, with its 300 ormore species, is the third most diverse order of mam-mals.

pro·tein: Proteins are of great nutritional value and aredirectly involved in the chemical processes essentialfor life.

re·pro·duce: to produce new individuals of the samekind, to produce offspring

re·serves: to set aside for future use: to set or haveset aside or apart

sa·fa·ri: journey, a traveling expedition especially ineastern Africa.

spe·cie, animal that is in the same or like form.

sub·spe·cies, a subdivision of a species: as a cat-egory in biological classification that ranks immedi-ately below a species and designates a population of aparticular geographical region genetically distinguish-able from other such populations of the same speciesand capable of interbreeding successfully with them ifranges overlap, a named subgroup (as a race or vari-ety).

Swa·hi·li: a Bantu language that is a trade and gov-ernmental language over much of East Africa and inthe Congo region

tour·ist: one that makes a tour for pleasure or culture.

un·in·formed: untaught, unguided, doesn’t know orhave knowledge.

* Over 2,000 languages are spoken in Africa.

u·nique: being the only one, being without a like orequal, distinctively characteristic

un·sus·tain·a·ble: won’t hold up, can’t support itself,can’t be kept up.

vol·un·teer: a person who by free choice undertakesa service or job without monetary pay.

Glossary of names:*ADISA: Ghanaian name meaning “one who will teachus.”ALI: Swahili and Muslim name meaning “noble, ex-alted.”BRAFO: Ghanaian name meaning “executioner, “ alsoa nickname for a troublemaker.Buqisi: BOOH-kee-see means queen of Sabaa.Dafina: DAH-fee-nah means valuable or precious inSwahili.Dunia: Means earth in Swahili.ZUVAN: Means the sun.Jamali: JAH-mah-lee means “beauty” in Swahili.MAH-lee-kah: Means queen in SwahiliMARET: Means the earth (Amharic/Ethiopian).Mwinyi: (m-WEEN-yee means “king” in Swahili.)Mwinyimkuu: m-ween-yeem-KOO means great king.Nyota: Means star in Swahili.Rudo: ROO-doh means love.Shona: Means the sun in Zimbabwe.Shanira: Means warmed by the sun.

Questions:1. Name two reasons monkeys have been hunted inAfrica.

2. How do small time local hunters usually travelwhen they hunt?

3. How do big time hunters travel?

4. What weapons did small time local hunters tradi-tionally hunt with?

5. What do today’s commercial bushmeat huntersand poachers use?

6. What is bushmeat?

7. What roads do commercial poachers use to get tobushmeat?

8. Could commercial hunters make a living withouthunting endangered species?

9. What laws do bushmeat hunters and poachersbreak?

10. Name one reason why conservationists cannotwork everywhere in Africa.

11. Name a type of endangered animal who hasbeen killed during wars.

12. Why are forests that were once untouched ortoo thick to travel through now easy for hunters totravel into?

13. Name some African animals who are also bush-meat hunters.

14. Name a large bird who is a bushmeat hunter.

15. Name at least one large reptile who is a bush-meat hunters.

16. Name two reasons animal predators manage tokeep nature in a better balance than human huntersdo.

17. How much low-access forest land is protectedby parks or reserves?

18. Name two ways that commercial bushmeatpoachers kill bushmeat.

19. What is the status of some monkeys when theyare discovered?

20. What is one reason giraffes are killed?

21. Name one African bird that is threatened in thewild.

22. What are check point guards?

23. Why do check point guards confiscate endan-gered species when they are already dead?

24. When bigger kinds of bushmeat, like Africanbuffalo get scarce, who is hunted even more?

25. How do some people learn to recognize monkeysand apes that all look alike to others?

26. Name one baboon-like monkey who is seriouslyendangered but still hunted illegally.

27. Name one kind of monkey which has alreadydisappeared entirely from West Africa.

28. What do Africans call forest?

29. What is a male gorilla called when he reachesmaturity and why?

30. How much land mass does Africa encompass?

31. How do red-tailed monkeys use their longstraight tails?

32. Which types of hyenas are threatened in thewild and why?

33. What is the age of the female chimpanzee whenshe has her first young?

34. Is tourism helpful Africa’s economy?

35. Name a monkey who swims to escape predatorsand who also freezes as a defense.

36. Why should guns be outlawed for hunting Africanwildlife?

37. What is one reason that some tourists avoid Afri-can parks and reserves?

38. Name one ground-living monkey who is huntedby the hyena.

39. How fast can the patas monkey run?

40. How often does the mountain gorilla bear young?

41. What is one way that bushmeat hunters hurt thefuture of endangered species?

42. Name three animals other than monkeys andapes who reproduce slowly.

43. In places where guards have been hired to moni-tor hunting, how much territory do they guard?

44. What effect do guards have on poachers?

45. Who is known to work with poachers out in thewild?

46. Why are some animals threatened in the wildeven though we see them in large herds?

47. Name an animal that is targeted by trophy hunt-ers from other countries.

48. How much has the population of the world grownin the last half century?

49. How does the world population effect Africa andendangered species?

50. What is truly at the bottom of the wildlife loss inAfrica?

51. Why do hunting licenses not work in Africa rightnow?

52. Name a type of animal that is shot and killed forbeing a “crop pest” when they raid corn fields.

53. What is the daily rate of spending for half of Af-ricans?

54. How much money do safari trophy hunters payto hunt animals in Africa?

55. How much money do bushmeat hunters make ayear?

56. Which animals are members of the so-called “Big

Five” favorites of tourist trophy hunters?

57. How often do giraffes have young?

58. Name the full grown giraffe’s only two predators.

59. What is the population of Africa?

60. What is a middleman and what is he called in pi-geon English?

61. What do many native people believe about theAfrican forests?

62. How is commercially hunted bushmeat often pre-pared?

63. Why are Saharan dorcas gazelles severely en-dangered?

64. Africa is home to some of the most intelligentanimals on the planet. Can you name at least threetypes?

65. How many African monkeys are consideredthreatened?

66. Which gorillas are endangered, lowland or moun-tain gorillas?

67. Name one bushmeat animal who makes manyyoung each year and could be farmed.

68. What is one of the world’s most critically threat-ened birds and list one reason why.

69. Name a large endangered baboon which changescolor in spots when angry and threatened.

70. What political issues put tree dwelling monkeysat great risk?

Bonus Questions:1. Name one political move that conservationistshope for?

2. Name the six parts of the world which would fitinto Africa’s landmass with room to spare.

3. Name three ideas to solve the bushmeat crisis?

Answers:1. Many have been hunted for bushmeat and somewere killed for their furs.

2. Small-time hunters usually travel by foot.

3. Big time hunters usually travel in bands and byvehicle.

4. Small time local hunters have traditionally huntedwith snares, bows, arrows or nets.

5. Today’s commercial bushmeat hunters and poach-ers use semiautomatic weapons.

6. Bushmeat is the meat of any wild African animal,even endangered animals, which is hunted often il-legally for eating and for sale.

7. Commercial hunters use logging roads to get tobushmeat forests.

8. The consensus is that commercial hunters couldstill make a living if they stopped hunting protectedspecies and hunted only legal game animals.

9. Bushmeat hunters and poachers break laws madeto protect them and limit their hunting, such as locallaws and the Convention on International Trade inEndangered Species (CITES) laws which protectmany animals.

10. There are areas where we conservationists can-not work because of civil wars.

11. The mountain gorilla has been killed during localwar.

12. Forests that were once untouched or too thick totravel through are now easy for hunters to travel intobecause of logging roads.

13. The leopard, the lion, the cheetah and the hyenaare animals who hunt other bushmeat.

14. The eagle is a large bird who is a bushmeathunter.

15. The python and also the crocodile are large rep-tiles who prey on bushmeat.

16. Two reasons animal predators manage to keepnature in a better balance than human hunters doare: A. Animal predators are more likely to prey onold and injured animals or ones that are too young tobreed and make new young. Man kills off adult maleand female breeding age animals, so then there arefewer animals to make more young.16. B. Animal predators kill only what they them-selves need at the time. Man kills more than hisshare.

17. Only around 8 out of every 100 acres of low ac-

cess forest is protected parks or reserves.

18. Two ways that commercial bushmeat poacherskill bushmeat is with semiautomatic weapons andfire. (They set fires to flush out elephants, monkeys,giraffes, crocodiles, lions and other wildlife.)

19. Some monkeys are already threatened or en-dangered by the time they are discovered.

20. One reason giraffes are killed is the tourist tradein giraffe hair bracelets.

21. One African bird that is threatened in the wild isthe crowned crane.

22. Check point guards are guards posted alongroadways to stop vehicles, search them and confis-cate any endangered species they find.

23. Check point guards confiscate endangered spe-cies when they are already dead because confiscat-ing them keeps the bushmeat hunter from sellingthem, and hopefully discourages future hunting.

24. When bigger kinds of bushmeat, like Africanbuffalo get scarce, smaller bushmeat like monkeysare hunted even more.

25. Some people learn to recognize monkeys andapes by studying their personalities and the waythey move.

26. One baboon-like monkey who is seriously en-dangered but still hunted illegally is the drill. An-other is the mandrill.

27. One kind of monkey which has already disap-peared entirely from West Africa is Miss Waldron’scolobus monkey.

28. Africans refer to forest as bush.

29. When a male gorilla reaches maturity he iscalled a silverback because he develops silvery greyhairs on his back in the shape of a saddle.

30. African land mass encompasses 20% of theworld’s total landmass.

21. Red-tailed monkeys use their long straight tailsfor balance when running on narrow tightrope likebranches and when leaping to escape predators.

32. Two types of hyenas are threatened in the wild,the striped and the brown hyena and the spotted hy-ena has reduced numbers. Because they are knownas predators of preferred bushmeat animals, hyenashave been poisoned and shot by humans in attemptto exterminate them.

33. The chimpanzee must be 13 to 15 YEARS old be-fore having her first young.

34. Yes, tourism is helpful to Africa’s economy be-cause tourists pay large sums to stay in Africa andvisit it’s wildlife. This money goes into the Africaneconomy as money that could be used to help setup wildlife reserves and save endangered animals.

35. As defenses, de Brazza guenon monkeys mayswim to escape predators and may also freeze aslong as eight hours to hide themselves.

36. Guns should be outlawed for hunting Africanwildlife because they do not give the animals a fairchance to escape or to survive and breeding ageanimals may be killed. With old fashioned arrowhunting who traveled on foot, the hunter was morelikely to get the weaker or older animals that werepast their breeding primes.

37. One reason that some tourists avoid Africanparks and reserves is because they are so overcrowded with other tourists, it sometimes seemslike more tourists than animals.

38. One ground-living monkey who is hunted by thehyena is the patas monkey.

39. The patas monkey runs 35 miles per hour.

40. The mountain gorillas bear only one young ev-ery four years.

41. Bushmeat hunters hurt the future of endangeredspecies because when the adult animals are killed,there are not enough adult breeding age animals tomake new young.

42. Three animals (other than monkeys and apes)who reproduce slowly are the cheetah, the elephantand the forest buffalo.

43. In places where guards have been hired tomonitor hunting, a single guard may be assignedareas of 100,000 hectares or more.

44. Guards appear to discourage poachers.

45. Drivers of logging trucks are known to some-times work with poachers in the wild, helping themsmuggle meat back to the market place where it canbe sold.

46. Although one may still see herd animals in largegroups in Africa, they can easily be killed off in highnumbers when bushmeat hunters and poacherstravel in vehicles instead of hunting on foot and usesemiautomatic weapons.

47. One of the largest animals on the African plains,the cape buffalo is targeted by trophy hunters fromother countries.

48. The population of the world has more thandoubled in the last half century.

49. The world population effects Africa and endan-gered species because the large number of peoplecreates demand for rainforest wood and the animal’shabitats are destroyed.

50. Over population of humans, both in Africa andthe world is truly at the bottom of the wildlife loss inAfrica: Too many people use too many resources,such as more land and more lumber from forests forhouses. When this happens, the animals who livedthere usually have no where to go.

51. Hunting licenses do not work in Africa right nowbecause the high-value of bushmeat results in citizenhunters overshooting their license quotas and hightrophy hunting values also lead to a black market inselling citizen licenses.

52. Monkeys are but especially the ground lovingvervet monkeys are shot and killed for being “croppests” when they raid corn fields and other crops.

53. Fifty percent of Africans live on less than $1 perday.

54. Safari trophy hunters pay up to 800 US dollars tohunt certain types of animals.

55. Bushmeat hunters make between US $400 andUS $1000.00 per year. The average African incomefor nonhunters is less than $365 per year.

56. The elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and Cape buf-falo are members of the so-called “Big Five” favor-ites of tourist trophy hunters.

57. Giraffes have one young about every year and ahalf.

58. The full grown giraffe’s only two predators arelions and humans.

59. The population of Africa is 900 million people.

60. A middleman buys from the hunter and sells tothe market and is called a ‘buy-um sell-um’ in pi-geon English.

61. Many native people believe the African forestshold enough food for them and their families and donot realize that species are being killed to extinction.

62. Commercially hunted bushmeat animals are of-ten smoked, then dried and cut into small bits be-fore they are sold.

63. Saharan dorcas gazelles are severely endan-gered due to bushmeat hunting.

64. Africa is home to some of the most intelligentanimals on the planet including the great apes, themonkeys and the African elephant.

65. All African monkeys are considered threatened.

66. Both lowland and mountain gorillas are endan-gered.

67. The wild pig, also called wild boar, has large li-ters, producing three to twelve offspring at a timeso could be farmed.

68. The Waldrapp Ibis is one of the world’s mostcritically threatened bird species because their meatis considered a delicacy.

69. Red spot appear on the large endangered man-drill baboon male when he is angry and threatened.

70. The political issues that put tree dwelling mon-keys at great risk are financial ones: they don’t at-tract tourists and their money because the monkeysare hidden up high in tree foliage.

Bonus Questions:1. One political move that conservationists hope foris more conservation pressure on Africans fromother governments.

2. Name the six parts of the world which would fitinto Africa’s landmass with room to spare are thecontinental United States, India, China, Brazil, Ar-gentina and Western Europe.

3. Three ideas for solving the bushmeat crisis are

to educate bushmeat hunters so they have otherways to earn monkey; educate the public so they donot buy and eat bushmeat and to farm chickens andpigs for meat in Africa.