Bushmeat hunting in Central and West Africa kills millions of wild animals annually for food. Great apes, monkeys, and other primates are among the most cognitively sophisticated victims. Understanding this trade reveals welfare harms and conservation crises intertwined.
Bushmeat hunting welfare harms are severe and affect some of the most cognitively sophisticated animals. Primates caught in wire snares may remain trapped for days, experiencing pain, dehydration, and fear before death. Infants accompanying hunted mothers are often taken alive, experiencing extreme social trauma and physical stress. Snare injuries to non-target primates — where animals escape with wire embedded in limbs — cause chronic infection and impaired mobility. The welfare case against primate bushmeat hunting is therefore both direct (individual animal suffering during capture and death) and indirect (orphan trauma, social group disruption). Solutions that address food security and protein alternatives while reducing hunting pressure serve both human and animal welfare simultaneously.