Biotropica. 2019;00:1–6. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/btp | 1 © 2019 The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation 1 | INTRODUCTION Hunting of wildlife has become a growingly controversial issue (Bennett et al., 2002). In terms of its motivations, hunting serves purposes that range widely from supporting the cultural fabric and protein supply of local communities, to providing “recreation” to wealthy sport hunters. In terms of its morality, this practice confronts our societies with fundamental questions regarding our evolving relationship with wildlife and with nature in general. Is it ac‐ ceptable to limit or influence the feeding habits of local communities that depend on wildlife for their subsistence? To what extent can our societies continue with wildlife exploitation patterns that threaten the actual existence of hundreds of species? And among these im‐ portant questions, a simple but fundamental issue is emerging: Can subsistence hunting be sustained in the context of the changing economic, cultural, and environmental conditions of a globalized and overpopulated world? In this essay, we analyze the feasibility of sus‐ tainable subsistence hunting in Neotropical rain forests (NRF) and discuss management alternatives that must be strengthened in order to increase the probability of long‐term survival for sensitive wildlife species with critical roles in the functioning of these ecosystems. Despite inherent difficulties in defining and assessing the sus‐ tainability of hunting (Robinson & Bennett, 2000; Shaffer, Yukuma, Marawanaru & Suse, 2018), it is clear that many if not most game species in NRF are in decline as a result of habitat loss and uncon‐ trolled hunting (Abrahams, Peres & Costa, 2017; Hoffmann et al., 2011). In particular, subsistence hunting poses one of the main threats to the survival of a diverse assemblage of species which tend to occur at very low densities and traditionally served as an import‐ ant source of protein for local communities (Robinson & Bennett, Received: 14 November 2018 | Revised: 19 February 2019 | Accepted: 22 March 2019 DOI: 10.1111/btp.12662 COMMENTARY Managing subsistence hunting in the changing landscape of Neotropical rain forests Esteban Suarez 1 | Galo Zapata‐Ríos 2 1 Instituto Biósfera, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador 2 Ecuador Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, Quito, Ecuador Correspondence Esteban Suarez, Instituto Biósfera, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Av. Diego de Robles e Interoceánica, Quito, Ecuador. Email: esuarez@usfq.edu.ec Abstract Subsistence hunting has been a vital activity for local people across Neotropical rain forests (NRF). While providing a reliable source of protein, subsistence hunting also reflected the strong relationships that connected local people with the species and ecosystems in which they inhabited. However, the social and ecological context in which subsistence hunting can be sustainable has been altered. The relatively small groups that hunted in large and mostly undisturbed forests, using traditional weap‐ ons, have been replaced by a growing population using fragmented habitats and modern hunting methods. Thus, subsistence hunting is less likely to be sustainable, threatening the food security of local people and the persistence of species with critical roles in the functioning of NRF. Managing subsistence hunting in this chang‐ ing context will require a more efficient combination of tools which might include banning the hunting of large and sensitive species, strengthening protected areas, alternatives to reduce the role of wildlife protein on local people's subsistence and, in some cases, voluntary resettlements of local people, from areas that could still be used as refuge for endangered species. KEYWORDS management alternatives, Neotropical rain forests, subsistence hunting, sustainability, wildlife Associate Editor: Emilio Bruna Handling Editor: Emilio Bruna