Humans have always hunted wild animals for food, commonly known as bush meat. For many people living in the forests of Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia, hunting remains a way of life. However during the 1990s bush meat harvesting, particularly in Africa, was transformed from a local subsistence activity into a profitable commercial enterprise. In 2001, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that over-hunting in many parts of the world threatened the survival of some animal species and the food security of human forest-dwellers.

Although the killing of endangered species is illegal, such laws are rarely enforced across much of Africa. Bush meat harvesting is threatening the survival of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), and bonobos (pygmy chimps) (P. paniscus), as well as some species of smaller monkeys and duikers (small antelope). Colobus monkeys and baboons, including drills and mandrills...