Mr. Menyata Gaspar, blindfolding his eyes by a bat caught by a bowgun. (Photo: Oishi)
A Baka Pygmy boy is keeping a genette (Genetta servalina) on his head, which his father caught and brought to him. Genettes are called “mboka” in the Baka Pygmy’s language. (Photo: Hattori)
A Manis tricuspis, which is called “kokolo” in the Baka Pygmy’s language. It is a strange animal whose body is covered by cuirass. It is tasty. (Photo: Hayashi)
A baby mangabey (Lophcocebus albigena), which is called “ngada” in the Baka Pygmy’s language. (Photo: Hattori)
A civet (Civettictis civetta), which is called “liabo” in the Baka Pygmy’s language. Men eat it but women do not. (Photo: Hattori)
A water chevrotain (Hyrmoschus aquatics), which is called “ngeke” in the Baka Pygmy’s language. They sometimes hide underwater for several minutes if chased by a predator. (Photo: Hattori)
A Cephalophus callipygus, which is called “ngendi” by the Baka Pygmies and Celphalophus monticola, called “ndengwe.” (Photo: Hattori)
Boschvarks (Potamochoerus porcus), which are called “pame”in the Baka Pygmy’s language. Their appearance is beautiful and they are also popular among the Baka Pygmies in terms of their taste. In Japan, they can be seen at Zoorasia Yokohama Zoological Gardens. (Photo: Hayashi)
A baby hornbill (Tropicranus albocristatus cassini), which is called “bedi” in the Baka Pygmy’s language. (Photo: Hattori)
A bird (Nigrita bicolor), which is called “bomboko” in the Baka Pygmy’s language. (Photo: Hattori)
Life in the forests seems to have created a clever hound. The dog called “Kaiman” shown on the left grew strong after Mr. Yasuoka adopted it. (Photo: Hayashi)
There was also a good-tempered cat in the village. When I was suffering from mice, a friend, a Baka Pygmy, brought this cat to me from somewhere. (Photo: Hayashi)
A cow which was taken over by Fulbe people to Moloundou from a place hundreds of kilometers away in order to sell its meat. (Photo: Inai)
A chameleon living in the forests, called “gE:gEl” in Bakewele. A kid caught it and brought it back, keeping it in a basket proudly, to show me but he seemed to be afraid of touching the chameleon. In this photo, the chameleon looks deep green as the inside of the basket was dark but when brought into the sun, it turned a yellowy color very quickly. It seemed the chameleon had not forgotten how to act when he was exposed to the sunshine. Chameleons are not used for food but they are the perfect animals for children to play with. (Photo: Oishi)
A Baka Pygmy’s boy, Gedja, showed me a “samba” which he had captured alive. (Photo: Oishi)
Mr. Simon and Great Blue Turaco. (Photo: Oishi)
This shows the moment when my friend Dede, a Baka Pigmy, had just caught a “kanga” (Crested guinea fowl) by a snare trap. These types of terrestrial birds are occasionally trapped. They do not have much meat on them but the meat is nicely stringy and its juice is rich, thus very tasty when cooked into a soup. (Photo: Oishi)
A Bush-tailed Porcupine, which is often caught by a snare trap. This is called “guoub” in Bakwele, “boke” in Baka, and “ngomba” in Lingala. Its spines are commonly used for doing women’s hair. (Photo: Oishi)
This is a de Brazza's monkey, which has been caught. When gunning, this monkey was taken alive in Bamileke village, located in Obala, outlying Yaoundé. (Photo: Oishi)
A tsetse fly. They live along the rivers. When the sun rises and the forests get warm, they appear. They are well known for causing sleeping sickness in humans and it is painful if they bite you. Taken in a village, Ntam, located on the borders between the Congo Republic and Cameroon in 2009. (Photo: Oishi)
A centipede called as "ngongolo" in Baka. Though it doesn't bite on humans, people are afraid of it. (Photo: Oishi)