Conhecimento sobre a fauna local e o consumo de animais silvestres por alunos de 6º ano do ensino fundamental da área rural do município de Tefé, Amazonas

Abstract

The consumption of game meat is recurrent all over the world and also in the Amazon region. Environmental education, based on the knowledge of the population about the problem, is 4 necessary to solve it. The objective of this study was to characterize the knowledge of the 6th grade elementary school students in the rural area of the municipality of Tefé and its possible influence on the consumption of local fauna; how they perceive their importance to the environment and the problems related to their consumption, their food preferences, and to identify if there is any taboo regarding the consumption of some type of meat. Ninety-nine questionnaires were applied to five rural schools in the municipality between July and October of the year 2015. Participants were 56 girls and 43 boys, with a mean age of 12.8 years. The students' knowledge of the local fauna is very consistent with what exists in the rural area of Tefé. Most interviewees understand that wildlife is important to the environment and that game meat consumption decreases species that are most exploited. However, 47.4% reported eat wild animals once a month or in greater frequency. Among the preferred meats of ox was the most cited, but there were in general a greater number of quotations referring to the wild. The rejection by consumption of some types of animals, like snake and pig, was more related to the palate, hygienic conditions and to the fact that the meat is "reimosa". Therefore, it is necessary to raise environmental awareness about the problem of the consumption of fauna among students in the rural area, so that in the future the slaughtering of wild animals for consumption will decrease in the riverside communities of the municipality of Tefé.