People have hunted mammals in tropical Asian forests for at least 40,000 yr. This period has seen one confirmed global extinction (the giant pangolin, Manis palaeojavanica) and range restrictions for several large mammals, but there is no strong evidence for unsustainable hunting pressure until the last 2000‐3000 yr, when elephants, rhinoceroses, and several other species were progressively eliminated from the large parts of their ranges. Regional declines in most species have occurred largely within the last 50 yr. Recent subsistence hunting has typically focused on pigs and deer (hunted with dogs and spears or with snares), monkeys and other arboreal mammals (often caught with blowpipes), and porcupines and other rodents (smoked or dug out of burrows). Over the last 50 yr, the importance of hunting for subsistence has been increasingly outweighed by hunting for the market. The hunted biomass is dominated by the same species as before, sold mostly for local consumption, but numerous additional species are targeted for the colossal regional trade in wild animals and their parts for food, medicines, raw materials, and pets. Many populations of mammalian dispersers of large seeds and understory browsers have been depleted or eliminated, while seed predators have had a more variable fate. Most of this hunting is now illegal, but the law enforcement is generally weak. However, examples of successful enforcement show that hunting impacts can be greatly reduced where there is sufficient political will. Ending the trade in wild animals and their parts should have the highest regional conservation priority. HABITAT LOSS AND DEGRADATION are such massive and visible threats to biodiversity in tropical Asia that the impact of hunting is sometimes considered secondary, at least in comparison with Africa and the Neotropics (Primack & Corlett 2005, Sodhi & Brook 2006). However, hunting impacts almost all remaining forest in the region and few areas now support the vertebrate fauna that they potentially could if hunting were prevented. This reduction in vertebrate populations may, in turn, slow vegetation recovery through its impact on seed dispersal, particularly since hunters favor the large vertebrate species that disperse large fruits with large seeds (Corlett 1998, 2002). Hunting, moreover, is potentially more easily controlled than most other conservation problems in tropical Asian forests. In most areas it is a relatively marginal economic activity, involving relatively few people. Hunting has become a massive problem because of high human population densities and a generally well-developed infrastructure that not only makes most forest areas easily accessible, but also gives access to distant urban markets for luxury (often medicinal) products. This review covers the hunting (including trapping) of mammals in closed-canopy forest habitats of tropical and subtropical Asia west of Wallace’s line, i.e., the Oriental or Indomalayan region. This region excludes eastern Indonesia, with its very different forest fauna, and much of the more arid western part of the Oriental region. The area covered has a relatively uniform mammalian fauna at the genus and family level, with many widespread species. Information on hunting impacts was obtained from several sources, including: archaeological data; studies of contemporary hunters; observations of the wildlife trade and markets; and changes in forest faunas over time. Mammalian nomenclature follows Wilson and

The Impact of Hunting on the Mammalian Fauna of Tropical Asian Forests

Crop raiding by Bornean elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis) is increasing rapidly in North Kalimantan, mainly due to a rapid conversion of swiddens and secondary forest into oil palm plantations...

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Rapid Expansion of Oil Palm Is Leading to Human–Elephant Conflicts in North Kalimantan Province of Indonesia:

Mammal populations are increasingly hunted, yet the consequences of their disappearance from tropical forests have only recently been explored. Here, we summarize current research on the role of mammals in seed dispersal and postdispersal processes, such as seed predation and secondary dispersal, in different tropical regions. We evaluate how mammal features influence seedshadows and ultimately forest regeneration. Finally, we discuss the potential effect of changes in seedshadows caused by the elimination of many medium- and large-sized mammals. The complex role that mammals play in creating and modifying seedshadows in tropical forests cannot be easily quantified, and in this review we emphasize the variation that exists both within and among mammal taxa and across continents. To bridge this gap in information, we suggest that more studies should evaluate the relative importance of the disappearance of both seed dispersers and seed predators for particular plant species so that we may begin to understand the balance between these two influences. We also suggest that future studies identify ecological redundancy in nonhunted vertebrates within any particular community to evaluate compensatory behavior that may help ameliorate some of the negative effects of hunting of large and medium mammals.

Aslan

Papers

Distribution, status, and conservation needs of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Lampung Province, Sumatra, Indonesia

Neonicotinoid contamination in tropical estuarine waters of Indonesia