Lopé National Park

Central Africa > Gabon > Lopé National Park

Summary

• Central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) & Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are present in Lopé National Park.
• The population sizes are unknown.
• The population trends are unknown.
• The site has a total size of 4,910 km².
• The site is part of the Ecosystem and Relic Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Site characteristics

Situated in central Gabon, Lopé National Park is part of the Ecosystem and Relic Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The site contains a special interface between dense tropical rainforest and relict savanna. The diversity of habitat types present at the park has contributed to the high floral diversity; over 1,550 plant species have been documented, including 40 never recorded before in Gabon. It is thought that, with the completion of all the floristic surveys and research, the number of plant species could reach over 3,000 (UNESCO). Well-preserved rock carvings and evidence of iron-working have been discovered in the area; these and other archaeological findings reflect a major migration route of Bantu and other peoples along the River Ogooué valley (UNESCO).

Table 1. Basic site information for Lopé National Park

Area	4,910 km²
Coordinates	-0.442447 S, 11.524291 E
Designation	National Park
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical dry forest, savanna

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Lopé National Park

Species	Year	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Encounter rate (nests/km)	Area	Method	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Gorilla gorilla gorilla
Pan troglodytes troglodytes

Threats

Table 3. Threats to apes in Lopé National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture		Unknown
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use		Unknown
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Unknown
7. Natural system modifications		Unknown
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution		Unknown
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather	11.5 Other impacts	Present, but threat severity is unknown	81% decline in fruiting over a 32-year period in Lopé National Park (Bush et al. 2020).	Less fruits in the ecosystem due to climate change will affect gorilla and chimpanzee populations (Bush et al. 2020).	Ongoing (2020)
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities in Lopé National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	Not reported
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	Not reported
3. Energy production & mining	Not reported
4. Transportation & service corridors	Not reported
5. Biological resource use	Not reported
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	Not reported
7. Natural system modifications	7.1. Use prescribed burning within the context of home range size and use	Fire management programme to maintain the diversity of forest/savanna habitats in the park (Jeffrey et al. 2014).	Ongoing (2014)
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	Not reported
9. Pollution	Not reported
10. Education & Awareness	Not reported
11. Habitat Protection	Not reported
12. Species Management	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Lopé National Park

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

The Station d’Etudes des Gorilles et Chimpanzes (SEGC) was established in 1983. In collaboration with the University of Stirling and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the field site has developed one of the most valuable long-term ecological databases in the region. SEGC also supports the park management and guides conservation policy.The WCS also has a long-term project at the park doing mandrill research.

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Lopé National Park

Behavior	Source
Ant fishing	University of Stirling 2020
Honey extraction with tools	University of Stirling 2020

External links

Station d’Etudes des Gorilles et Chimpanzes
Lopé National Park WCS
Foraging profiles of sympatric lowland gorillas and chimpanzees in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon
No Evidence for Transmission of Antibiotic-Resistant Escherichia coli Strains from Humans to Wild Western Lowland Gorillas in Lopé National Park, Gabo

Relevant datasets

A.P.E.S Portal

References

Bush, E. R., Whytock, R. C., Bahaa-el-din, L., Bourgeois, S., Bunnefeld, N., Cardoso, A. W., Dikangadissi, J. T., Dimbonda, P., Dimoto, E., Edzang Ndong, J., Jeffery, K. J., Lehmann, D., Makaga, L., Momboua, B., Momont, L. R. W., Tutin, C. E. G., White, L. J. T., Whittaker, A., & Abernethy, K. (2020). Long-term collapse in fruit availability threatens Central African forest megafauna. Science, eabc7791. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc7791
Jeffery, K. J., Korte, L., Palla, F., Walters, G., White, L. J. T., & Abernethy, K. A. (2014). Fire management in a changing landscape: A case study from Lopé National Park, Gabon. PARKS, 20(1), 39-52. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2014.PARKS-20-1.KJJ.en
University of Stirling. (2020). Stirling expert informs new study on chimpanzee behaviour. Retrieved from: https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/2020/09/stirling-expert-informs-new-study-on-chimpanzee-behaviour/
UNESCO. (n.d.). Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda. Retrieved from: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1147/

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki Team Date: 05/12/2020