UT Scientist Contributed
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Data collected by a University of Tennessee research associate nearly 30 years ago is part of a new extensive study that focuses on wild animal hunting patterns in African tropical forests.
Adam Willcox, a research associate professor in the UT Institute of Agriculture School of Natural Resources, co-authored the article, which was published recently in Nature Sustainability. “Regional patterns of wild animal hunting in African tropical forests” was also written by Daniel J. Ingram, research fellow at the University of Kent, and several other researchers. The data show how hunting management is needed to sustain wild animal populations in West and Central Africa.
The article uses data collected from 1991 to 2022 in 83 different studies to create a regional analysis of hunting patterns. Willcox contributed to the publication using research and data he gathered from 1996 to 2001 while promoting agroforestry in the U.S. Peace Corps in Cameroon. “I was in a lowland tropical forest. We did not have domestic alternatives for protein. We had to eat wild animals,” Willcox said. “My research followed 100 hunters around a wildlife sanctuary in Cameroon and their harvests.”
Willcox completed his master’s degree at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom where Ingram was a postdoctoral researcher. Ingram contacted Willcox about using his data for the publication. The article says hunting animals boosts economies and revenue for subsistence villages, but overexploitation can cause food and economic insecurity for people who rely on the meat from wild animals for survival. This can also cause land conversion to agriculture for new sources of food and income, which can mean a loss of habitat for the animals.
Willcox said, “I was eating wildlife and working with hunters to make it more sustainable. I never thought it would lead to this. I hope this paper makes a difference and advances the science related to the sustainable use of natural resources.” The article is available through open access on the Nature Sustainability website.
The UT School of Natural Resources focuses on a mastery learning approach, emphasizing practical, hands-on experiences. The school’s faculty, staff and students advance the science and sustainable management of our natural resources through various programs of the UT Institute of Agriculture (UTIA).
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