Gun hunter behavior and success in the Tshuapa–Lomami–Lualaba landscape

The behavior and success of commercial bushmeat gun hunters in the forest landscape between the Tshuapa and Lualaba rivers, Democratic Republic of the Congo, were studied to understand hunter practices and wildlife governance challenges through the lens of optimal foraging theory. Over a period of 4 months in 2016 to 2017 and 7 months in 2022, 242 hunter follows covering 3235 km were conducted. Hunting success increased with distance from the villages and was associated with wildlife encounter rates, the quality of guns and night hunting. Prey size and the type of encounter influence prey selectivity. The results indicate the limited applicability of optimal foraging theory to commercial bushmeat gun hunter behavior in the Lomami context, high hunting pressure on ungulates and primates, and the importance of the Lomami National Park to both protect biodiversity and as a source of wildlife for adjacent forests.