4 

 and Brautigam, 1991). Many wild aninials originally kept as pets subsequently are eaten, for example, 

 guanaco (Lama guanaco; Gilmore, 1950), collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu), paca (Agouti paca), and 

 agouti (Dasyprocta punctata; Jorgenson, pers. obs.). 



Another use of live animals from the Neotropics is for the biomedical and zoo trade. Between 

 1961-1965, for example, 139,000 live primates were exported from Iquitos, Peru (Grimwood, 1969), 

 and in 1973, at least 91,662 primates were exported from Iquitos (Castro, Revilla, and Neville, 1975- 

 76). Reptiles and amphibians also were traded for these purposes. Today, international trade in these 

 species for commercial purposes is strictly regulated. 



The studies mentioned above show that 1) many taxa of wild animals are used by settlers and 

 indigenous people, 2) these taxa have many different types of uses, and 3) these uses have occurred 

 over millennia. These facts suggest that wildlife can be used sustainably in some cases. The current 

 rate of human population growth and corresponding decrease in natural habitat, however, suggest that 

 many species of plants and animals will become extinct in the near future as the areas where they occur 

 are converted by humans to areas unable to support the original complement of plants and animals 

 (Meffe et al., 1993; Myers, 1987, 1989; Robinson, 1993; World Resources Institute, 1990). The 

 challenge as conservation biologists is to identify and promote ways in which wild animals can be used 

 sustainably. 



Sustainable Use of Wildlife 



While studies have shown that some people in the Neotropics appear to use wildlife at 

 sustainable levels (Dufour, 1990; Stearman and Redford, 1992; Vickers, 1991), there also is evidence 

 that other people hunt or capture wildlife at levels that may not be sustainable, especially when these 

 people participate in market economies (Dourojeanni, 1985; Fitzgerald, 1989; Ojeda and Mares, 1984; 

 Redford and Robinson, 1985; Vickers, 1988). 



Evidence that people can overexploit local wildlife populations presents a dilemma to many 

 organizations. For example, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), World Wildlife 



