14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new paper in the journal Tropical Conservation Science, a species of odd-looking porcupine that only inhabits Brazil's Atlantic Forest is now is danger of going extinct.
According to the researchers behind this report, thin-spined porcupines risk falling off the biodiversity map due to the fact that they are intensely hunted by people living in the region.
What's interesting is that, apparently, their meat does not even taste all that good.
In fact, half of the 125 folks that were interviewed as part of this investigation said that they had had the chance to eat thin-spined porcupines, and that they did not like their meat all that much. Mongabay details that, much like elephants and rhinos, thin-spined porcupines are also hunted due to the fact that some people believe that their quills can be used to treat various medical conditions. However, they are chiefly killed because people see them as food.
“Although its meat is not coveted throughout the study area, the main reason for hunting it is for food,” the researchers reportedly write in their paper.
“Another motivation for hunting is for medicinal uses. Some respondents in both areas have cited using the thin-spined porcupine's quills to treat diseases, especially strokes, and to improve the accuracy of hunting dogs,” they go on to explain.
The specialists further say that deforestation has also contributed a great deal to a decline in Brazil's Atlantic Forest's thin-spined porcupine population, and that the species is also negatively affected by the fact that some people like to keep such animals as pets.
However, hunting for meat and for medicinal purposes remains the main threat to the species' long-term survival.
In light of these findings, the researchers recommend that conservation projects intended to keep this vulnerable species from going extinct mainly focus on boosting the livelihood security of human communities that these animals share their habitat with.
As well as this, the specialists say that locals should be educated about the importance of safeguarding biodiversity in the area.
“More attention should be paid to local residents living inside and around these protected areas. Dependence on wildlife resources, especially among farmers and agriculture dependents, must be reduced through livelihood security.”
“[Education efforts] should focus on rural residents, especially men, who have negative attitudes toward wildlife conservation. Particularly, hunters and consumers should be educated about how over-hunting threatens both biodiversity and rural livelihoods,” they write in their paper.