Park rangers are few, and rarely have weapons or even uniforms. 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 has been modeled after successful elephant and rhino measures. To help raise money, environmental groups would like to entice a technology tycoon to underwrite the effort, or perhaps snare admissions paid by the estimated 134 million visitors to American zoos yearly.
Price is another way to control the trade and reduce demand.
But westerners cannot agree on the cost of 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 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.