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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence: Discovery of a large, continuous population of Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii in the Central Uele region of northern DRC
Biological Conservation, Volume 171, Year 2014
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Description
With great ape populations in decline across much of their range, it is crucial to obtain a global picture of their distribution and abundance, in order to guide conservation activities and to provide baseline data against which to monitor their trends. Although great apes are popular, charismatic species, we still do not possess a complete understanding of their distribution and abundance, which hinders their long-term protection. We highlight this problem by providing information on the distribution and abundance of the Eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a region which has until now received little attention. We conducted a standing crop nest survey in the Bili area in 2005 and exploratory reconnaissance walks (recces) across the Bas-Uele region between 2004 and 2009. At Bili, the nest encounter rate in the remote forest was 4.84nests per km (CI=2.78-8.55) and in the area closer to the road it was 1.92nests per km (CI=1.08-3.43). In 2012, we repeated a part of the original transect survey and found that the nest encounter rate had remained stable over that period. On our recce walks across the region, we encountered chimpanzee nests in all forests surveyed, and within 13km of the largest population centers. Our results suggest that the Central Uele landscape and neighboring regions are home to one of the largest remaining continuous populations of Eastern chimpanzees, that extends across at least 50,000km2, likely representing thousands of individuals, but which is falling under increasing pressure from habitat destruction, mining and the bushmeat trade. This population has until now remained hidden from researchers and is not protected. Our results reflect gaps in our current understanding of ape distribution and abundance, and highlight the importance of obtaining more sound and complete data before assessing species status and making recommendations to guide conservation efforts. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Hicks, Thurston Cleveland
Netherlands, Amsterdam
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics - Amsterdam
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Tranquilli, Sandra
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
United Kingdom, London
University College London
Kühl, Hjalmar S.
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Campbell, Geneviève
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Swinkels, Jeroen
Netherlands, Amsterdam
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics - Amsterdam
Darby, Laura
United States, New York
Grand Central Hospital
Boesch, Christophe
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Hart, John A.
Congo, Kinshasa
Lukuru Wildlife Research Foundation
Menken, Steph B.J.
Netherlands, Amsterdam
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics - Amsterdam
Statistics
Citations: 23
Authors: 9
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.biocon.2014.01.002
ISSN:
00063207
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Exploratory Study
Study Approach
Quantitative
Study Locations
Congo