Slaughter tapping is an obsolete method of extracting large quantities of natural latex

Latex

Latex is the stable dispersion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic.Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants . It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins, alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins,...

 from rubber trees in a forest environment. Prior to commercial exploitation of latex-bearing trees such as Hevea brasiliensis in the Amazon Basin and Funtumia elastica

Funtumia elastica

Funtumia elastica is a medicinal plant. It is a medium-sized African rubber tree with glossy leaves, milky sap, and long woody seedpods. The bark is the medicinal portion. Scientists studied Funtumia extensively in the 1960s, but only recently have its medicinal properties recaptured the interest...

in the Congo, native populations limited harvesting to non-lethal tapping of the sap. However, with the rising demand for rubber worldwide in the late nineteenth century, debt-slave "hunters" began tapping more intensively, using ladders to extract as much sap as possible from all areas of the tree, killing the tree as a result. This "slaughter tapping" resulted in the destruction of all latex-bearing trees across large swathes of sub-Saharan Africa and South America. Eventually, the establishment of rubber plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

s in the Far East

Far East

The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...

made "hunting" of naturally occurring rubber trees unprofitable, and the practice largely ceased in the early twentieth century.