The bushmeat trade in Africa and parts of Asia involves the hunting and sale of wild animals for meat, with significant welfare and conservation consequences.
Bushmeat snare trapping causes extreme welfare suffering: wire snares tighten as animals struggle, cutting into tissue and causing slow death from wounds, starvation, or predation over hours to days. Animals that survive snare capture — including great apes — often require amputation of injured limbs. Commercial bushmeat trade targets species with slow reproductive rates, making it both a conservation and welfare crisis. Alternative protein programs and snare removal patrols address both dimensions simultaneously.