The paper is in general a good one and will add positively
to understanding human attitudes in a typical African
setting. Youths are tomorrow’s world and understanding
and understanding their perceptions will help in finding
solutions to the African Bush-meat crises. Furthermore,
was there any study on the rural Cameroonian children
and will there be a chance to compare rural and urban
children’s attitudes in a similar study?
It is quite necessary to also attempt to assess their
rural counterparts elsewhere because as you said, while
urban centers fueled the bush-meat crises, we know that
rural centers ignited it in the first place.
“This information is highly
relevant in building conservation initiatives which
are aligned with the worldview of the people they serve………
I think worldview does not convey the opinion! Why don’t
you just say perhaps, perception of nature or natural
world, so that Africans or readers down here can appreciate
and understand your points?
“Over 135 children between the ages of 8-17 participated
in the study”
The sample size is quite adequate for the study as there
hasn’t been any such study in the recent past
in the republic of Cameroon.
“Table 2 displays the questions and responses
format where questions came from?”
It shows an appreciable level of assessment especially
as local schoolteachers administered the questionnaires!!!
In local parlance worship means or stands for ‘WILFUL’
obeisance or commitment and trust to a Deity or god
or even mankind, Animal etc. This is especially of persons
or group who feel totally overwhelmed by a phenomenon
or thing.
In our localities it is nearly always borne out of desperation,
fear or lack of understanding or total ignorance! For
example, a local rural folk being overwhelmed by a simple
event like a Boeing 747 Aircraft taking-off the runway
Tarmac gracefully.
I will disagree here because while your work show as
adequate sample size for Yaounde, it is rather too insignificant
to extrapolate for much of urban Africa. Also, we do
not really need to integrate western values into African
“worldviews” as the two are hardly at par.
Even if they were at par, their foundations and basis
are almost totally unrelated.
Consider the plight of the African undergraduate student
in an African setting and compare that to yours, then
you will see that it is out of place or outrageous to
make a comparison. Rather result may actually be revealing
or reflecting a trend whereby people have way too much
of personal cares or, needs that they fail to pay enough
attention to personal or collective wants.
In this case, conservation for most Africans is regarded
as “wants” while daily survival is regarded
as “needs”. Therefore, wants and needs cannot
be equated. For instance, while your people will like
to go the gym or ice-skating, the African folk will
be busy thinking about what to eat or feed to his children
i.e where to find the next meal.
Yes its up to you whether to remove it or not!
My argument is borne out of the consideration of a Safari
Hunter who pays thousands of Dollars to come over to
Africa just to kill animals for fun. So who is more
questionable? The one who is killing the animal for
food or survival or the one who kills simply to satisfy
his cruel ego?
“Another example?”
No I do not consider it as another example, they are
two different issues and this one has a lot of Merits
The older generations of Africans, our old parents and
grand parents are already lamenting the perilous status
of our forests and inherent wildlife populations.
Yes it may be especially to those looking at the situation
from outside but to those who live it, feel it, etc.
So it cannot be an internal locus of control. No single
strategy or step or even action can serve as internal
locus of control but a sound combination of factors.
In the concluding section, I want to agree with you
that ECONOMIC realities fuel the African Bush-meat Crisis.
Again those who view the situation from the balcony
cannot see it as those in the sitting room.
Education is highly needed; attitude enrichment is absolutely
necessary and must be pursued vigorously.
One reason why African children in Africa prefer an
animal (Bushmeat) killed especially in the rainforest
zone, is the fact that right from their Birth, most
of them never ate or tasted domestic meat even an egg!
They only ate such things during festive seasons if
at all!! Hence, the wild animal that roamed the forest
and bushes freely were the only forms of meat available
to them, yet these people are not Vegetarians, So economics
means quite a lot and the world outside must know and
face these problems as a means of solving or taking
care of basic human needs while trying to mitigate the
African Bush-meat Crisis
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