Elephant meat trade in Central Africa : Cameroon case study

The pilot study presented in this report is part of an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) project initiated by the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The project aims to improve understanding of the impact of elephant meat trade on elephant populations in Central Africa. This Cameroon case study elaborates on bushmeat research already undertaken in the south-eastern Cameroon region by a number of individuals and institutions, but will focus on the African elephant. No studies have ever been carried out that concentrate specifically on elephant bushmeat, and most general bushmeat studies either do not include elephant meat, or treat it differently from other bushmeats because of the atypical aspects associated with elephant hunting and product trade; thus this study hopes to be of particular value to elephant conservation.