East Africa > Burundi > Kibira National Park

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Summary

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Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) are present in Kibira National Park.
It has been estimated that 204 (CI: 122 – 339) individuals occur in the site.
The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
The site has a total size of 400 km².
Key threats to chimpanzees are hunting and logging.
Conservation activities have focused on running tourist projects and involving local communities.
The park is adjacent to Nyungwe Forest National Park in Rwanda.

Site characteristics

Located in northwestern Burundi, Kibira National Park is contiguous with Nyungwe Forest National Park in Rwanda; together they form a 130,000 ha montane forest block (BirdLife International 2020). The site lies from 1,600 to 2,666 m of altitude. Until 1933, Kibira was a royal hunting reserve (FAO). Historically, parts of the forest in Kibira have been very important to local people, who consider it sacred and possessing magical qualities (FAO). Between 1933 and 1980 Kibira was classified as the Congo-Nile Ridge Forest Reserve, under Belgian rule and after Burundian Independence in 1962 (FAO). From 1980, active conservation efforts began at the site; in the same year, it was declared a National Park (Hakizimana et al. 2015). In addition to Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), other primate species found at the site include Ruwenzori colobus (Colobus angolensis ruwenzorii), golden monkey (Cercopithecus mitis kandti), and L'Hoest's monkey (Cercopithecus l’hoesti). The park is also home to many of the Albertine Rift endemic bird species, and is a designated Important Bird Area (BirdLife International 2020).

Table 1. Basic site information for Kibira National Park

Species	'Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii
Area	400 km²
Coordinates	Lat: -3.001130 , Lon: 29.495718
Type of site	Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical montane forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Kibira National Park

Species	Year	Occurrence	Encounter or vistation rate (nests/km; ind/day)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Survey area	Sampling method	Analytical framework	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii	2011-2013			0.509 (0.305 - 0.847)	204 (122 - 339)	Kibira National Park	Line transects		Hakizimana & Huynen 2013	Survey effort: 864 km

Threats

Kibira forest originally covered about 900 km², but this was reduced to 400 km² as a result of a tea plantation extension program implemented by the government in the 1970s. As the land surrounding Kibira National Park was particularly suitable for tea cultivation, a large area was deforested for the program (Hakizimana et al. 2015). Rebels who occupied the forest during several years of civil conflict, between 1994 and 2007, logged and extensively hunted large mammals (Hakizimana et al. 2015).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Kibira National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
6 Human intrusions & disturbance		Absent
7 Natural system modifications		Absent
10 Geological events		Absent
12 Other threat		Absent
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Deforestation as a result of agricultural expansion (Hakizimana et al. 2015).	1970s
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present (unknown severity)	Hunting by rebels who occupied the forest (Hakizimana et al. 2015).	Ongoing (2015)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present (unknown severity)	Logging by rebels who occupied the forest for several years (Hakizimana et al. 2015).	Ongoing (2015)
1 Residential & commercial development		Unknown
3 Energy production & mining		Unknown
4 Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases		Unknown
9 Pollution		Unknown
11 Climate change & severe weather		Unknown

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

BirdLife International - Kibira National Park

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Kibira National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
5 Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat	The site is a National Park.		Ongoing
8 Permanent presence	8.2 Run tourist projects and ensure permanent human presence at site	Chimpanzee tracking, bird watching, safaris, and other activities offered (Kibira National Park).		Ongoing

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Kibira National Park

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Kibira National Park

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Research activities

A study found that chimpanzees in Kibira National Park are selective in the choice of nest trees, preferring to nest in Parinari excelsa trees, which occur in low densities at the park. On the other hand, the more abundant Macaranga kilimandscharica trees were less used (Hakizimana et al. 2015).

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Kibira National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

Exposure to climate change impacts

External links

Kibira National Park

Relevant datasets

References

BirdLife International. (2020). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Kibira National Park. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 08/12/2020.

Hakizimana, D., Hambuckers, A., & Brotcorne, F. (2015). Characterization of nest sites of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in Kibira National Park, Burundi.African Primates, 10,1–12.

Hakizimana, D. & Huyne, M. (2013). Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) Population Density and Abundance in Kibira National Park, Burundi. Pan Africa News, 20(2).

Page created by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: NA