Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan - IUCN

3. Conduct repeat questionnaire and/or field surveys in
areas where basic distribution and status data are still
lacking, but which are known or believed to be of
importance to one or more taxa.
4. Promote further investigations into the circumstances
and extent of damage caused to crops by the various
species of Afrotropical suids, with a view to developing
management strategies that circumvent, contain or adequately
compensate for such damage.
5. Encourage further studies into the importance of wild
suids as vectors of livestock diseases and zoonoses,
using least-destructive methods.
In addition to the general studies outlined above, the
following, more specific projects are also strongly
recommended:
6. Collect additional distribution and population status
data on H. meinertzhageni from northwest Zaire, north
Congo, north Gabon, southwest Cameroon, and southeast
Nigeria, and encourage the gazetting of new protected
areas where isolated viable populations of Ii. m.
rimator still exist.
7. Promote new conservation measures for H. meinertzhageni
in the Central African Republic by revising
the present hunting legislation, improving law enforcement,
protecting forest galleries along the tributaries of
the Oubangui River, and protecting the “Massif des
Bongo”.
8. Evaluate the impact of both traditional and sport
hunting on H. meinertzhageni in Gabon, with a view
to developing appropriate management recommendations.
9. Investigate the desirability/feasibility of augmenting the
H. meinertzhageni populations in the Nyungwe
(Rwanda)/Kibira (Burundi) National Park forest
complex and in the Mgahinga (Uganda)/Virunga
(Zdire)Nolcans National Park (Rwanda) Massif, using
translocated hogs of the same subspecies from elsewhere
in this region.
10. Collect additional distribution and population status
data on P. africanus ssp. from the Central African
Republic, ZaYre, Angola and Mozambique, where available
data are insufficient for the elaboration of appropriate
conservation and management plans.
ll.Collect distribution and population status data on
Potamochoerus spp. from Sudan, north Ethiopia, south-
east Somalia, central Zaire, Togo, Angola and
Mozambique, where the current lack of information
prevents the formulation of appropriate conservation
and management plans.
12.Investigate occurrence and status of introduced and
feral pig populations (particularly the reports of freeranging
P. porcus x Sus scrofa hybrids in the Wonga-
Wongue Presidential Reserve in Gabon, and the
introduction of Natal warthogs into reserves in the Cape
and Orange Free State Provinces), with a view to their
eradication or control and to discourage any future
introduction attempts. (Also see Oliver and Brisbin, this
vol.)
C. Management of Afrotropical Suids for Profit
Outside the predominately Muslim countries (5”- 10” N) all
the Afrotropical suids are important sources of protein for
traditional hunters throughout their ranges. However, in
some countries where Muslims constitute a minority population,
they hunt wild pigs in order to sell them to the
Christian or other sectors of the community. Suids constitute
a significant part of the bush-meat market because
wild pork is widely regarded as a delicacy and because
each adult animal produces 30-60 kg of meat. Unlike sport
hunting, subsistence and commercial hunting is virtually
uncontrolled in most countries. The importance of bushmeat
in terms of value and volume is therefore mostly
unknown, though it is thought to be very high. The impact
of legal and illegal hunting on suid populations has never
been assessed in spite of its evident potential as a renewable
and valued resource. Actions needed to enhance and
develop the sustainable management of healthy suid populations
include:
1. Identify areas where suid population levels are sufficient
to support a limited offtake through traditional
hunting practices, with a view to promoting the sustainable
management of these populations.
2. Determine the monetary value, volume and origin of
the suids involved in selected local bush meat markets
and assess the sustainability of this practice and its
importance for the local economy.
3. Assess potential and possible options for the local,
commercial ranch management of each species of
Afrotropical suid with a view to developing small scale
wild suid breeding in rural areas and the distribution of
their products through local markets.
4. Investigate the possible socio-economic consequences
to local communities of a transition from poaching to
legal hunting and from hunting to husbandry prior to
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