Wildlife consumption patterns during a complex humanitarian and environmental crisis

Abstract

Each year, people living near the world's most biodiverse places experience seemingly insurmountable challenges, using limited natural resources to meet immediate needs. Unfortunately, such pressures can place endemic wildlife at risk of extinction. Despite the increasing occurrence of severe human crises, studies on human-wildlife interactions under such crises are limited. We interviewed 4150 members of 909 rural families living near an endangered UNESCO World Heritage Site during an extended severe drought and food crisis to better understand how humans and forests interact in places of critical need. Nearly every family was food insecure, with shortages severe enough to force frequent meal skipping, reduction, and seed stock consumption. Domestic meat consumption and availability was low, and one-third of families ate wild meat. One-fifth of wild meat was purchased, with lemur meat comprising a quarter of all wild meat bought. Further, almost half of all lemur meat was purchased. This is among the highest proportion of both purchased wildlife and lemur meat found thus far in rural Madagascar, highlighting an unexpected market-driven dynamic to wildlife consumption during this crisis. Families who ate lemurs were wealthier but significantly less food secure, using more strategies to cope with severe food shortages. As Madagascar's wildlife and food security decline, remaining lemurs may be increasingly purchased by rural food-insecure homes with sufficient access to cash income, especially in shock-prone rural regions. Improving meat availability and long non-staple food supply chains to such regions may improve the future of people and lemurs alike.