Furthermore, E. helvum plays an important role in seed dispersal and regeneration of valuable natural products (Taylor et al., 2000, Kankam and Oduro, 2009); overhunting of E. helvum could severely damage its ability to provide these vital ecosystem services. Another significant concern is that E. helvum may be host to several zoonotic or potentially-zoonotic infections of high public health importance, including henipaviruses (Hayman et al., 2008a), lyssaviruses (Kuzmin et al., 2008, Hayman et al., 2008b) and Ebola virus (Hayman et al., 2010). Unveiling the extent of the commodity chain would be the first step towards the identification of potential risk groups for zoonotic transmission.