Effects of human activity on Paradisaea minor in the Jimi Valley, New Guinea

Abstract

The place of P. minor in the culture and economy of Jimi Valley people is reviewed, along with the mechanisms for the regulation of hunting. The effects of hunting, traditional agriculture and cash cropping on the distribution and status of the bkds is discussed. Ratios of adult males to females and immatures provide the basis for estimating the total population in an area of about 540 square kilometres at about 6,000 to 10,000 birds. Overcropping of male birds probably does not occur. Destruction of habitat will probably increase but there seems little danger of the extinction of the birds.