Moukalaba-Doudou National Park
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Summary
- Central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) & western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are present in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park.
- The population sizes are unknown.
- The population trends are unknown.
- The site has a total size of 4,458. km².
- Current threats are unknown; in the past, hunting and logging were the main threats.
- Conservation activities have focused on habituation of gorillas for research and ecotourism
Site characteristics
Moukalaba-Doudou National Park is located in southwestern Gabon, 700 km south of Libreville. The Moukalaba area was designated as a Forest Reserve in 1962 and as a National Park in 2002 (Ando, Iwata & Yamagiwa 2008). Vegetation types present in the park include primary and secondary forest, riverine forest, montane forest, and savanna (Ando, Iwata & Yamagiwa 2008).
Table 1. Basic site information for Moukalaba-Doudou National Park
| Species | Gorilla gorilla gorilla |
| Area | 4,458. km² |
| Coordinates | Lat: -2.403664 S , Lon: 10.399228 E |
| Type of site | Protected area (National Park) |
| Habitat types | Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Savanna, Subtropical/tropical moist montane forest |
| Type of governance |
IUCN habitat categories Site designations
Ape status
Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Moukalaba-Doudou 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 | 2002 | 6.99 | 1.08 | Northern part of Moukalaba-Doudou National Park | Line transects | Takenoshita, Y., & Yamagiwa 2008 | Survey effort: 44.3 km |
Threats
Since logging stopped in 1988, no poaching of gorillas has been recorded (Ando, Iwata & Yamagiwa 2008). During the period when logging was actively carried out, gorillas were being hunted. The Gabonese government prohibited hunting in 1986 and the logging company in Moukalaba left in 1988 (Ando, Iwata & Yamagiwa 2008).
Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Moukalaba-Doudou National Park
| Category | Specific threats | Threat level | Description | Year of threat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Residential & commercial development | Absent | |||
| 2 Agriculture & aquaculture | Unknown | |||
| 3 Energy production & mining | Unknown | |||
| 4 Transportation & service corridors | 4.1 Roads & railroads | Present, but threat severity unknown | Roads constructed for timber transportation (Ando, Iwata & Yamagiwa 2008). | Ongoing (2008) |
| 5 Biological resource use | 5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals | Absent (if you know a threat category is absent) | Gorillas hunted during the period when logging sites were active. Hunting was forbidden in 1986 and the logging company left in 1988 (Ando, Iwata & Yamagiwa 2008). | Until 1988 |
| 5 Biological resource use | 5.3 Logging & wood harvesting | Absent (if you know a threat category is absent) | Selective logging initiated in 1962. Logging activities ended in 1988 (Ando, Iwata & Yamagiwa 2008). | Until 1988 |
| 6 Human intrusions & 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 | Unknown | |||
| 12 Other threat | Absent |
Conservation activities
Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Moukalaba-Doudou National Park
| Category | Specific activity | Description | Implementing organization(s) | Year of activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Species health | 3.2 Keep safety distance to habituated apes | A minimum distance of 20 m from gorillas was kept during the habituation process (Ando, Iwata & Yamagiwa 2008). | Ongoing (2008) | |
| 5 Protection & restoration | 5.2 Legally protect ape habitat | The site is classified as a National Park. | Ongoing (2022) | |
| 6 Species management | 6.1 Habituate primates to human presence to reduce stress from tourists/researchers | Gorilla habituation (Ando, Iwata & Yamagiwa 2008). In 2014, the NGO PROGRAM was appointed by the National Agency of National Parks to provide on-the-ground management of the habituation of a group of gorillas called “Musiru”, intended for tourism, in collaboration with Kyoto/IRET (PPI). | Ongoing | |
| 8 Permanent presence | 8.2 Run tourist projects and ensure permanent human presence at site | A local NGO, (PROGRAM), fosters community-based ecotourism and organises gorilla trekking around Doussala. | Ongoing |
Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)
Challenges
Table 5. Challenges reported for Moukalaba-Doudou National Park
| Challenges | Specific challenges | Source | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not reported |
Enablers
Table 6. Enablers reported for Moukalaba-Doudou 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
Ecological studies on the sympatric population of gorillas and chimpanzees have been carried out at the site since the early 2000s. The habituation of gorillas started in 2003 during a long-term socio-ecological primate survey (Ando, Iwata & Yamagiwa 2008, Takenoshita, Ando & Yamagiwa 2008).
Documented behaviours
Table 7. Behaviours documented for Moukalaba-Doudou National Park
| Behavior | Source |
|---|---|
| honey extraction with tools | Wilfried & Yamagiwa 2014 |
| hunting with tools | Wilfried & Yamagiwa 2014 |
Exposure to climate change impacts
External links
Moukalaba-Doudou National Park
Relevant datasets
References
Ando, C., Iwata, Y., & Yamagiwa, J. (2008). Progress of habituation of western lowland gorillas and their reaction to observers in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, Gabon. African Study Monographs. Supplementary Issue., 39, 55-69.
Iwata, Y., & Ando, C. (2007). Bed and bed-site reuse by western lowland gorillas (Gorilla g. gorilla) in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, Gabon. Primates, 48(1), 77-80.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10329-006-0003-4
Takenoshita, Y., Ando, C., & Yamagiwa, J. (2008). Fruit phenology of the great ape habitat in the Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, Gabon. African Study Monographs. Supplementary Issue., 39, 23-39.https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/handle/2433/66240
Takenoshita, Y., & Yamagiwa, J. (2008). Estimating gorilla abundance by dung count in the northern part of Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, Gabon. African Study Monographs. Supplementary Issue., 39, 41-54. https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/66239/1/ASM_S_39_41.pdf
Wilfried, E. E. G., & Yamagiwa, J. (2014). Use of tool sets by chimpanzees for multiple purposes in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, Gabon. Primates, 55(4), 467-472. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10329-014-0431-5
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