Sustentabilidad de la cacería de subsistencia: el caso de cuatro comunidades Quichuas en la Amazonía nororiental ecuatoriana

Hunting is the main subsistence strategy of indigenous people of Amazonia. It is also one of the main causes of local extinction of wild mammal populations. I present estimates of sustainability based on Robinson and Redfords mathematical model (1991) for four Quichua communities of the northeastern Ecuadorian Amazon. I found strong evidence that subsistence hunting of wild mammals is not sustainable. Although the Quichuas are still able to hunt most species of game animals at relatively constant levels, populations of Panthera onca, Leopardus pardalis, Mazama americana, Tapirus terrestris, Tayassu pecari, Lagothrix lagotrichia, Alouatta seniculus, and Cebus albifrons are being severely depleted. Measurements of the sustainability of subsistence hunting are critical elements when the goals are to protect wildlife populations of game species and to meet the subsistence needs of local communities.