Analysis of wild animal hunting in the Caatinga biome, Bahia-Brazil: what factors influence species preference?

ABSTRACT

Hunting comprises the extraction of wild animals from their natural environment for use in various purposes. In this sense, based on the Socioecological Theory of Maximization (TSM), semi-structured forms were applied to 45 hunters from rural communities located in the Caatinga region in the state of Bahia/Brazil to verify the influence of cost-benefit, perceived abundance, taste preference and multiple uses in the selection of hunted species. Fourteen species were selected to test whether hunting intensity is influenced by the presented variables. It was found that the only variable that showed statistical significance was flavor preference, increasing the chance of a species being hunted by up to three times (OR = 3.09). It is concluded that subjective variables related to culture significantly influence species selection in the study region.

KEYWORDS:

• Hunting intensity
• sociocultural factors
• flavor
• game animals

Acknowledgments

We thank all informants from the city of Crisópolis who agreed to participate in this study and were willing to grant the interviews, to the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for the support offered to the Universidade Estadual Feira de Santana (UEFS) and to the Programa de Pós Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução (PPGEcoEvol/UEFS), and Diego Abreu for his assistance in building the map in the study area.

Ethical and legal aspects

Participants were provided with information about the objectives and nature of this study, in case of acceptance to participate, they were requested to sign the Free and Informed Consent Term (ICF) that authorizes the collection, use and publication of the data obtained, as required by the Resolution 196 of October 10, 1996, of the National Health Council. This study was submitted to the Ethics Committee of the Universidade Federal do Oeste da Bahia – UFOB, with approval number CAAE 50083520.4.0000.8060. This study was also registered in the Sistema Nacional de Gestão do Patrimônio Genético e do Conhecimento Tradicional Associado (SisGen) under registration number A86B3ED.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).