Moukalaba-Doudou National Park

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Central Africa > Gabon > Moukalaba-Doudou National Park

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Summary

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  • 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

IUCN Threats list

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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