Conservation implications of primate hunting practices among the Matsigenka of Manu National Park

Much ink has been spilled recently in the debate over whether indigenous people are “ecologically noble savages” — natural-born conservationists — or whether they pose a threat to biodiversity in the Amazon and other ecosystems (Redford, 1991; Alcorn, 1993; Alvard, 1993; Redford and Stearman, 1993; Robinson, 1993; Terborgh, 1999; Schwartzman et al., 2000). Tropical biologists and ecological anthropologists alike have brought important empirical data and theoretical perspectives to the debate, including estimates of game animal densities, rates of harvest and consumption by indigenous and other hunting communities, alteration in species composition and depletion or extinction of vulnerable species under different intensities of hunting, and models to estimate sustainability of hunting practices and catchment area sizes (Hames, 1980; Hames and Vickers, 1982; Bodmer et al., 1988; Peres, 1990; Mitchell and RáezLuna, 1991; Vickers, 1991; Bodmer et al., 1994; Robinson and Redford, 1994; Ráez-Luna, 1995; Alvard et al., 1997).