**2.7 The illegal wildlife trade (IWT)**

The illegal wildlife trade can be clustered into one of two categories: (1) the bushmeat trade, the illegal harvest of non-domesticated animals in tropical forests in order to meet local and regional consumption demand, and (2) the international trade in body parts of endangered animals to meet the international black-market demands [9, 10]. The first primarily consists of hunting ungulates and, the second entails the poaching of rhinos, elephant, and pangolins to name the most popular. It is important to note that often times, poaching entails the illegal harvest of ungulates which are not classified as endangered including Kudu (*Tragelaphus*) in Mozambique and waterbuck (*Kobus*) in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Bushmeat represents an important source of animal protein for humans in tropical Africa. In Bénoué National Park (BNP), Cameron, and Sam-Sam villages, Ghana, is the local diet, whereby bushmeat consists of up to 24% of animal protein intake. Two primary negative impacts are associated with bushmeat consumption; the transfer of Zoonotic diseases and biodiversity loss. The Ebola outbreak crisis across West Africa in 2016 resulted in a decreased consumption rate in high-income households than in low-income households [16]. However, daily meal frequency decreased during the crisis, while the diversity of food items and preferences for bushmeat species remained constant. In Garamba National Park and neighboring Azande Hunting Reserve, Congo, bushmeat hunting of primates increased fivefold during political instability and armed conflict resulting from warfare.

The Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) refers to the trade in animal body parts among international borders. With an annual circulation of \$17 billion annually, IWT is driven by the consumer belief system that consuming an animal or its body parts, then one resumes the animals' potency [14]. Africa is home to the most endangered mammalian population supplies. The most trafficked animal worldwide is the pangolin (*Manis*) for its scales, the white rhino (*Ceratotherium simum simum*) and the black rhino (*Diceros bicornis*) for their horn, and the elephant for its tusks. In 2011, South Africa was home to 83% of Africa's rhinos and nearly three-quarters of all wild rhinos worldwide. Alarmingly, on average, one rhino was poached every 8 hours during 2015. Specifically, three South African provinces (Limpopo, North West, and KwaZulu-Natal) are home to 90% of South Africa's rhino population, experiencing 75% of all poaching during 2012–2017.

### **2.8 Civil war and poaching**

During the civil war and Human-Human Conflict (HHC) in South Sudan and The Democratic Republic of the Congo elephant populations significantly decreased. Their decreased numbers were attributed to increased poaching and dispersal. Studies conducted during political stable times indicate that elephant populations re-established their local home-ranges after HHC. Provide details!!!
