Hunting Pressure on Primates in the Southern Portion of the Brazilian Northeast: Historical Threats and Current Perspectives

Hunting is an ancient human behavior, which likely became complex and efficient gradually through time. We present data from a bibliographic survey (qualitative) and field sampling (quantitative) of primate hunting in Northeastern Brazil. We evaluated hunting threats faced by 14 primate species native to the States of Bahia and Sergipe (three Critically Endangered, three Endangered, three Vulnerable, two Near Threatened, and three Least Concern). Qualitatively, since 2005, we identified 21 academic studies that contained 47 mentions of all six studied genera known to occur in the study area (Alouatta=4, Brachyteles=2, Callicebus=16, Callithrix=8, Leontopithecus=3, Sapajus=14). Approximately half of the citations were for hunting (55.3%; 88.4% of this for bushmeat) and the other half for trapping (44.7%; 90.4% for pet). Quantitatively, we obtained 834 local experts’ citations of primate hunting and capturing at 348 sites. All experts cited Callithrix, 818 cited Sapajus, and 738 cited Callicebus. We argued 539 about hunting for bushmeat (164 positive; 30.4%) and 636 about trapping for pet (189 positive; 30.9%). Callicebus presented 95 citations as bushmeat (30.1% of 326 queries) and Sapajus presented 80 citations as pet (35.7% of 224). Four informants reported hunting Sapajus for pest control because of crop damage. There was a significant difference (Chi²=33.982; df=2; p<0.0001) comparing hunting for bushmeat and pets, with Callicebus (higher bushmeat) and Sapajus (higher pet) presenting significant differences (both p<0.01). The impact of hunting is associated with biological contexts, besides socioeconomic and political, requiring complex-specific attention and efforts in conservation and management strategies, perhaps innovative, even non-prohibitive.