Wild Mammals Trade for Zootherapeutic and Mythic Purposes in Benin (West Africa): Capitalizing Species Involved, Provision Sources, and Implications for Conservation

Abstract

A common problem affecting many animal species is the soaring demand for their body parts for use in medicinal products. In Benin, in spite of intense commercial exploitation of wildlife for medicinal purposes, no official statistics on the use of animals for medicinal and magic/religious purposes are available and consequently, there is little consideration of the issue in laws, decision-making processes, and conservation strategies. The aim of this study was to list the mammal species sold on the medicinal market and the conservation implications of the use of mammal species in traditional folk medicines. Among the 87 mammal species traded on the traditional medicine market in Benin, 46 were sold by at least half of those traders surveyed; the conservation status of these animals included rare, vulnerable, and threatened species. Moreover, it was noticed that the source of animals is not limited to Benin since some species available at markets are not listed in the Benin's fauna. This study also found that rarer species were more costly and this constitutes an economic motivation for sellers to develop strategies for the availability of threatened species on their displays. Urgent conservation actions are needed to reduce the pressure that this activity sector might contribute to biodiversity loss.

Appendix A: List of the medicinal wild mammal species inventoried on the markets

Carnivora (20 species)

• Atilax paludinosus (G.[Baron] Cuvier, 1829)

• Ichneumia albicauda (G.[Baron] Cuvier, 1829)

• Herpestes ichneumon (Linnaeus, 1758)

• Galerella sanguinea (Rüppell, 1835)

• Crossarchus obscurus (F. G. Cuvier, 1825)

• Lutra maculicollis (Lichtenstein, 1835)

• Mellivora capensis (Schreber, 1776)

• Ictonyx striatus (Perry, 1810)

• Genetta genetta (Linnaeus, 1758)

• Genetta pardina (I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1832)

• Civettictis civetta (Schreber, 1776)

• Nandinia binotata (Gray, 1830)

• Caracal caracal (Schreber, 1776)

• Felis silvestris (Schreber, 1777)

• Canis adustus (Sundevall, 1847)

• Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758)

• Panthera pardus (Linnaeus, 1758)

• Acinonyx jubatus (Schreber, 1775)

• Crocuta crocuta (Erxleben, 1777)

• Lycaon pictus (Temminck, 1820)

Chiroptera (9 species)

• Epomophorus gambianus (Ogilby, 1835)

• Epomops franqueti (Tomes, 1860)

• Hypsignathus monstrosus (H. Allen, 1861)

• Megaloglossus woermanni (Pagenstecher, 1885)

• Eidolon helvum (Kerr, 1792)

• Hipposideros cyclops (Temminck, 1853)

• Micropteropus pusillus (Peters, 1867)

• Nanonycteris veldkampi (Jentink, 1888)

• Epomophorus gambianus (Ogilby, 1835)

Primates (10 species)

• Chlorocebus aethiops (Linnaeus, 1758)

• Cercopithecus mona (Schreber, 1774)

• Erythrocebus patas (Schreber, 1775)

• Papio Anubis (Lesson, 1827)

• Colobus vellerosus (I. Geoffroy, 1834)

• Procolobus verus (Van Beneden, 1838)

• Galago senegalensis (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1796)

• Gorilla gorilla (Savage and Wyman, 1847)

• Pan troglodytes (Blumenbach, 1775)

• Perodicticus potto (Müller, 1766)

Soricomorpha (2 species)

• Crocidura olivieri (Lesson, 1827)

• Crocidura poensis (Fraser, 1843)

Erinaceomorpha (1 species)

• Atelerix albiventris (Wagner, 1841)

Lagomorpha (1 species)

• Lepus capensis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Artiodactyla (12 species)

• Syncerus caffer (Sparrman, 1779)

• Hippotragus equinus (Desmarest, 1804)

• Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa

• Kobus kob (Erxleben, 1777)

• Ourebia ourebi (Zimmermann, 1783)

• Alcelaphus buselaphus (Pallas, 1766)

• Redunca redunca (Pallas, 1767)

• Tragelaphus scriptus (Pallas, 1766)

• Cephalophus rifulatus;

• Sylvicapra grimmia (Linnaeus, 1758)

• Cephalophus silvicultor (Afzelius, 1815)

• Tragelaphus spekii (P. L. Sclater, 1863)

Perissodactyla (1 species)

• Equus zebra (Linnaeus, 1758)

Pholidota (2 species)

• Manis tricuspis (Rafinesque, 1821)

• Manis gigantea (Illiger, 1815)

Proboscidea (1 species)

• Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach, 1797)

Rodentia (25 species)

• Uranomys ruddi (Dollman, 1909)

• Tatera guineae (Thomas, 1910)

• Lemniscomys zebra (Heuglin, 1864)

• Funisciurus leucogenys (Waterhouse, 1842)

• Xerus erythropus (Desmarest, 1817)

• Anomalurus derbianus (Gray, 1842)

• Tatera guineae (Thomas, 1910)

• Steatomys jacksoni (Hayman, 1936)

• Protoxerus stangeri (Waterhouse, 1842)

• Myomys derooi (Van der Straeten and Verheyen, 1978)

• Mus haussa (Thomas and Hinton, 1920)

• Malacomys longipes (Milne-Edwards, 1877)

• Mastomys natalensis (Smith, 1834)

• Lophuromys sikapusi (Temminck, 1853)

• Lemniscomys striatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

• Hylomyscus alleni (Waterhouse, 1838)

• Graphiurus lorraineus (Dollman, 1910)

• Heliosciurus gambianus (Ogilby, 1835)

• Funisciurus substriatus (de Winton, 1899)

• Arvicanthis niloticus (Desmarest, 1822)

• Atherurus africanus (Gray, 1842)

• Cricetomys emini (Wroughton, 1910)

• Cricetomys gambianus (Waterhouse, 1840)

• Thryonomys swinderianus (Temminck, 1827)

• Acomys cineraceus (Heuglin, 1877)

Tubulidentata (1 species)

• Orycteropus afer (Pallas, 1766)

Hyracoidea (2 species)

• Procavia capensis kerstingi (Matschie, 1899)

• Dendrohyrax dorsalis sylvestris (Temminck, 1855)