Ammann and other longtime observers say they know of no primate hunters being prosecuted. Other countries, like Cameroon, want development aid for village schools and water systems in exchange for conservation guarantees. The bill is modeled after successful elephant and rhino measures. That's equal to the operating budget of a single large national park in the United States, such as Yellowstone. Environmental groups would like to entice a technology tycoon to underwrite the effort, or perhaps snare admissions paid by America's 134 million zoo visitors.
Price is another way to control the trade and reduce demand.
Trouble is, westerners can't agree what bush meat costs or how much to tax it. Often the meat is heavily smoked and dishes are cloaked in wine-based or peanut sauces. But in frontier towns, the unadorned meat sells for a fraction of the cost of beef and chicken. It's protein that poor people can afford. If we don't know that, we're not going to be sure of the approaches to minimize it.