The diversity and conservation of mammals in the Dodo Coastal Forest in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire, western Africa: a preliminary study

Abstract

To improve the knowledge of non-volant mammal diversity and conservation prospects in the Dodo Coastal Forest (DCF) in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire, we conducted reconnaissance surveys and interviews, and deployed remote cameras. We calculated visual encounter rates (vER) and sign ER (sER) of mammalian taxa and hunting signs, mapped their locations and tested the hypothesis that sightings and signs of primates occurred closer to the river Dodo in and near the gallery forest. We sighted nine taxa, including threatened King Colobus (Endangered, EN), Olive Colobus (Vulnerable, VU), Lowe’s Monkey (VU), the Eastern Lesser Spot-nosed Monkey (VU), and White-bellied Pangolin (VU), with vER of 0.04, 0.12, 0.04, 0.12, 0.04, respectively. We confirmed 14 other taxa with signs including threatened Western Chimpanzee (CR), Pygmy Hippopotamus (Endangered, EN), Bosman’s Potto (VU), and Black-bellied Pangolin (VU), with sER of 0.51, 0.04, 0.08, 0.04, respectively. The most frequently encountered signs were of the Red River Hog at 1.73 signs/km, and the Bushbuck at 0.63 signs/km. Remote cameras captured images of these two taxa at image capture rates (ICR) of 0.044 and 0.022, respectively. Images of the African Buffalo were captured at ICR of 0.044. The 23 confirmed taxa include seven primates, four rodents, three carnivores, six even-toed ungulates, two pangolins and a Tree Hyrax. The mean distance from the river Dodo to the sightings and the signs of the primates was significantly shorter than that of other taxa. This supports our hypothesis. There was a high level of hunting signs (sER = 0.63) indicating that intensive hunting pressure is menacing the fauna. We recommend that authorities take actions against poaching, install a surveillance program, and curtail charcoal-making to ensure the conservation of the threatened mammals of the DCF.