2016/10/01 by William J. Ripple, Katharine Abernethy, Matthew G. Betts +12 · 6 citations
Environmental Science · Medicine · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation #Zoonotic diseases and public health #Human-Animal Interaction Studies
paper · doi:10.1098/rsos.160498
openalex publication_date 2016/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Terrestrial mammals are experiencing a massive collapse in their population sizes and geographical ranges around the world, but many of the drivers, patterns and consequences of this decline remain poorly understood. Here we provide an analysis showing that bushmeat hunting for mostly food and medicinal products is driving a global crisis whereby 301 terrestrial mammal species are threatened with extinction. Nearly all of these threatened species occur in developing countries where major coexisting threats include deforestation, agricultural expansion, human encroachment and competition with livestock. The unrelenting decline of mammals suggests many vital ecological and socio-economic services that these species provide will be lost, potentially changing ecosystems irrevocably. We discuss options and current obstacles to achieving effective conservation, alongside consequences of failure to stem such anthropogenic mammalian extirpation. We propose a multi-pronged conservation strategy to help save threatened mammals from immediate extinction and avoid a collapse of food security for hundreds of millions of people.