While wild meat can be an important source of protein for rural communities, the commercial trade in wild meat to Africa's fast expanding cities has become one of the continent's most pressing conservation issues. The sheer scale of the trade is placing unsustainable pressure on wildlife populations, including of endangered species, and reducing the prey base for predators like lions. The widespread use of snares in illegal hunting is not only cruel, often subjecting animals to slow and painful deaths, it is also indiscriminate, catching lions and other animals who were not the intended target.
WildAid aims to promote a sustainable model of wild meat consumption across Africa. In Cameroon, WildAid is engaged in a multi-year campaign to end the urban consumption of pangolin meat, which is already showing dramatic results. In Tanzania, we are about to launch a new campaign to end the consumption of illegal wild meat in the country's cities.