Atascadero Zoo, March 7 & 8, 2009

The Atascadero Zoo is one of approximately 100 zoos in the U.S. that are certified by the American Zoo Association. In order to be certified, they have to show sensitivity to the environmental problems of the areas from which the animals have been taken. Recently, the Atascadero Zoo acquired three Red River Hogs found in swampy areas of West Africa. Project Hope and Fairness was invited to talk about the connection between the poverty of the West African cocoa farmer and the disappearance of wild animals, called "bush meat".

On March 7 & 8, PH&F President Tom Neuhaus spoke to the audience about the connection between the economic sustainability of cocoa farmers and the popularity of bushmeat. Essentially, people are very active in trafficking bushmeat because growing cocoa for the world's chocolate simply is not an economically viable occupation. Cocoa farmers are forced to find other methods supplementing their incomes. Perhaps if we could encourage villages to raise their own meat, there would be a reduction in the bushmeat trade.

Tess Gellerman, a student at Cal Poly who is also doing her Senior Project on setting up a Fair Trade festival on May 2, volunteered yesterday and today by selling chocolate and talking to zoo attendees about Sweet Earth Chocolates and Project Hope and Fairness.

Grasscutter is a popular bushmeat. Above, on the left, is a dead grasscutter for sale by the side of the road. In the middle photo is a Duiker, a type of small antelope, and a scaly anteater or Pangolin. In the right photo are "Jungle Chickens", difficult to identify because their plumage is missing.

It is possible to reduce the enormous pressure on wild animals by substituting farm-raised, thereby making bush meat a rare treat rather than regular fare. Above are a farm-raised grasscutter and farm raised snails, both used to make this popular restaurant dish, Green-green. It is a bowl of fufu or pounded cassava with pieces of grasscutter and a snail. We tasted Green-green in a restaurant in Kumasi, Ghana.

Proposed Partnership with Zoos

Zoos have shown a remarkable transition in the last 40 years. In the 1960s, many zoos changed from displaying animals in cages to placing them in constructed habitats that recreate a miniature environment, a more humane way of treating animals. Recently, zoos are developing programs to rebuild the original environments from which wild animals were taken. The modern zoo is seen as both an ark, saving wild species from certain extinction, while also sponsoring programs to improve the local environment to which the animals are native. It is possible that Project Hope and Fairness could enhance the environmental programs of zoos by building domesticated animal facilities inside villages.