Conservation de l'Autruche (Struthio Camelus) au Cameroun:perspectives offertes par l'élevage

Several species of wild animals are endangered with extinction in Cameroon.
The ostrich, Struthio camelus, which is one of these animals, has been protected
since 1994. In 2000, there were about fifty individuals left in the Waza National
Park, in the far northern part of the country. The number of ostriches has steadily
decreased in the park despite more than half a century of protection. This repressive
management method has progressively evolved into a participative management
method. The primary cause of this drop in number is poaching, which is carried
out by the local populations searching for eggs whose shells are sold to tourists,
and for adult animals killed for their meat, and even more so for their bone marrow
which is widely used in traditional medicine. Commercial hunting is carried out
by foreigners, the skin being used in the fabrication of hand-crafted objects.
In addition to these problems, natural predation occurs, mostly by jackals, Canis
aureus, and hyenas, Hyaena hyaena, which targets the hatchlings often already
weakened by the harsh climactic conditions. One of the alternatives for the
conservation of this species is the introduction of its breeding in “game ranching”
or “game farming” near the park and urban centers where there are consumers
of the products taken from this animal. The products of such breeding farms
or ranches could be used as animals for reintroductions into the wild, improving
the visual tourism, and be valorized on the national meat- and craft markets.