SUBSISTENCE HUNTING IN ARABUKO-SOKOKE FOREST, KENYA, AND ITS EFFECTS ON MAMMAL POPULATIONS

Mammal populations in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Kenya, provide an importa nt source of protein and income for local communities. The harvested b iomass in 1991 was over 350 kg/km(2), and the economic value of the ha rvest was over 1.3 million KShs (approximately US$35,000). Bushpigs, a ardvarks, and primates comprise 95% of the harvested biomass, but the main prey in terms of number of animals killed (35% of total) was the four-toed elephant shrew (Petrodomus tetradactylus). Trapping is conce ntrated on the periphery of the forest and reduces densities of four-t oed elephant shrews within 1-2 kim of the forest edge by 41%, squirrel s by 66%, and Syke's monkeys by 55%. Yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalu s), Syke's monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis), and the larger ungulates are also hunted with dogs throughout the forest. The results of our study suggest that yellow baboons and Syke's monkeys are overharvested, and current offtake rates of elephant shrews, squirrels, and duikers (Cep halophus spp.) are sustainable. Overharvesting has reduced the densiti es of large ungulates, including bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) and b uffalo (Syncerus caffer), to low levels. Differences in reproductive r ates, abundance, population dispersion, ease of capture, and relative vulnerability to hunting, as compared to trapping, influence the exten t to which different prey species are affected by harvesting.