Mwagna 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 Mwagna National Park.
• The population sizes are unknown.
• The great ape population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 1160 km².
• Key threats to great apes are hunting and disease outbreaks.
• Conservation activities are not documented.
• The site is part of the TRIDOM (Trinational Dja-Odzala-Minkébé) landscape.

Site characteristics

The site is located in the far east of Gabon, bordering the Republic of Congo. The park is home to forest elephants, hogs, western lowland gorillas, bongo antelopes, and rare endemic bird and plant species (Discover Gabon). The site is part of the TRIDOM (Trinational Dja-Odzala-Minkébé) landscape.

Table 1. Basic site information for Mwagna National Park

Species	Gorilla gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes troglodytes
Area	1160 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 0.472048 , Lon: 13.778030
Type of site	Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

A 2004 survey revealed that the gorilla population in the park was severely impacted by Ebola outbreaks, as the gorillas that were present in 2001 were all gone. During the survey only five very old nests and a termite mound which had been eaten into a long time ago (at least a year and probably more) were recorded. No ape feeding signs were seen (Maisels et al. 2004). Between 2004 and 2012 there was an increase in the encounter rate of nests (Maisels & Akou 2013).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Mwagna 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	2004	0			Mwagna National Park	Reconnaissance walk	Maisels et al. 2004	No great apes recorded after the Ebola outbreak.
Gorilla gorilla gorilla & Pan troglodytes troglodytes	2012			0.6	Mwagna National Park	Line transects & recces	Maisels & Akou 2013

Threats

A drastic reduction in ape numbers occurred between 2001 and 2004 almost certainly due to Ebola outbreaks (Maisels et al. 2004).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Mwagna National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	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	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present, bu threat level unknown	A survey in 2004 documented the presence of hunting trails (Maisels et al. 2004). One machete cut was recorded inside the park during a survey in 2012; outside the park, snares and shotgun shells were recorded (Maisels & Akou 2013).	Ongoing (2013)
6 Human intrusions & disturbance		Unknown
7 Natural system modifications		Unknown
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	8.4 Pathogens	High	Ebola outbreaks in the early 2000s decimated the gorilla population in the park (Maisels & Akou 2013, Bermejo et al. 2006)	2002-2003
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 Mwagna 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 (2023)

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Mwagna National Park

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Mwagna 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

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Mwagna National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Bermejo, M., Rodríguez-Teijeiro, J. D., Illera, G., Barroso, A., Vilà, C., & Walsh, P. D. (2006). Ebola outbreak killed 5000 gorillas. Science, 314(5805), 1564-1564.

Maisels, F. and Akou, M.E. (2013). Mwagne National Park: Report on survey transects 2012. WWF unpublished report.

Maisels, F., Akou, M.E., Douckaga, M. & Moundounga, A. (2004). Mwagne National Park Trip Report, Nov-Dec 2004 Large Mammals and Human Impact. WCS unpublished report.

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