Preliminary analysis on the hunting activities in selected areas in interior Sarawak

Archaeological records showed that human have lived in Borneo for at least 40000 and evidence of wildlife hunting for at least 35000 years. Wildlife is used for a variety of reasons, including subsistence, economy, pest control, and traditional needs. Technology has fuelled the course of human cultural evolution but the use of wildlife is still prevalent throughout the world especially in tropical forest. In Sarawak, local communities are allowed to hunt non-protected species outside protected areas. This study was focused on the effects of hunting on the distribution and diversity of terrestrial medium to large mammals in interior parts of Sarawak. By undertaking interview surveys with the local communities, information on hunting pressure and dependency of the communities towards these mammals were obtained. A total of 170 respondents were interviewed from three study sites: Ulu Baram, Ulu Baleh, and Pelagus. In general, the local communities are dependent of wildlife in Sarawak where the access to commercially available poultry and meat sources are scarce in these areas. A long term multiprong approaches need to be considered to reduce the dependency on wild meat and prevent hunting of the endangered and protected species