Mapping suitable habitat for Nigeria–Cameroon chimpanzees in Kom-Wum Forest Reserve, North-Western Cameroon

Abstract

Great apes lose suitable habitats required for their reproduction and survival due to human activities across their distribution range in Africa. Little is known about habitat suitability of the Nigeria–Cameroon chimpanzee [Pan troglodytes ellioti (Matschie, 1914)], particularly for populations inhabiting forest reserves in North-West Cameroon. To address this knowledge gap, we employed a common species distribution model (MaxEnt) to map and predict suitable habitats for the Nigeria–Cameroon chimpanzee in Kom-Wum Forest Reserve, North-West Cameroon, based on environmental factors that potentially affect habitat suitability. We related these environmental factors to a dataset of chimpanzee occurrence points recorded during line transect and reconnaissance (recce) surveys in the forest reserve and surrounding forests. Up to 91% of the study area is unsuitable for chimpanzees. Suitable habitats only represented 9% of the study area, with a high proportion of highly suitable habitats located outside the forest reserve. Elevation, secondary forests density, distance to villages and primary forests density were the most important predictors of habitat suitability for the Nigeria–Cameroon chimpanzee. The probability of chimpanzee occurrence increased with elevation, secondary forest density and distance from villages and roads. Our study provides evidence that suitable chimpanzee habitat in the reserve is degraded, suggesting that efforts to maintain protected areas are insufficient. The reserve management plan needs to be improved to conserve the remaining suitable habitat and to avoid local extinction of this endangered subspecies.

Opinions, attitudes and perceptions of local people towards the conservation of Nigeria‐Cameroon chimpanzees in Mpem‐Djim National Park, central Cameroon

“…Due to the high risks of extinction, a regional action plan (RAP) was established for the chimpanzees with a recommendation to determine their distribution, abundance and potential priority conservation sites (Morgan et al., 2011). Recently, a species distribution modelling was carried out to localize the distribution of suitable habitat for the chimpanzees in Cameroon (Fotang et al., 2023).…”

Tool use, or not tool use, that is the question: is the necessity hypothesis really inconsequential for the African great apes?

“…Tool use and predisposition differences: the Pan mystery Only 13 tool-using behaviors have been documented in wild bonobos (Pan paniscus, possibly 14; see Samuni et al, 2022), whereas more than 40 have been described in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes; e.g., Kano, 1982;Ingmanson, 1996;Hohmann and Fruth, 2003;Sanz and Morgan, 2007;Gruber and Clay, 2016;Kalan et al, 2020;Fotang et al, 2023). Today, this difference is generally attributed to the lack of reports of tool use in wild bonobos when foraging (e.g., Samuni et al, 2022).…”