Niokolo-Koba National Park

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West Africa > Senegal > Niokolo-Koba National Park

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Summary

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  • Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Niokolo-Koba National Park.
  • It has been estimated that 23 individuals occur at the site.
  • The chimpanzee population trend is estimated to be stable.
  • This site has a total size of 9130 km².
  • Key threats to chimpanzees are illegal bushmeat hunting and mining activities.
  • The park management implements anti-poaching patrols, roadblocks and supports communities around the park.
  • Niokolo-Koba National Park is contiguous with Badiar National Park in Guinea.


Site characteristics

The Niokolo-Koba National Park (also called Parc National du Niokolo Koba – PNNK) is located in southeastern Senegal and is contiguous with Badiar National Park in northern Guinea. Niokolo-Koba National Park has been established in 1954 (UNEP-WCMC & IUCN 2019). PNNK is also a World Heritage Site since 1981 and has been listed as a World Heritage site in danger since 2007 (UNESCO 2019a, UNESCO 2019b). It is also an Important Bird Area (BirdLife International 2019).

Table 1. Basic site information for Niokolo-Koba National Park

Species Pan troglodytes verus
Area 9130.0 km²
Coordinates Lat: 13.031594 , Lon: -13.068463
Type of site Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types Savanna, Shrubland, Grassland, Subtropicial/tropical dry forest, Wetlands (lakes, rivers, streams, bogs, marshes)
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

In 1967, De Bournonville confirmed the presence of chimpanzees in Niokolo-Koba National Park (De Bournonville 1967). McGrew et al. (1981) estimated the chimpanzee population size to be around 24 individuals based on studying unhabituated chimpanzees around Mt. Assirik. Similarly, Pruetz et al. (2002) estimated a population size of 23 individuals based on nest count surveys.

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Niokolo-Koba 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
Pan troglodytes verus 1967 Present PNNK Interviews, Reconnaissance walk De Bournonville 1967
Pan troglodytes verus 1976-1979 24 0.09 Assirik area Full count McGrew et al 1981
Pan troglodytes verus 2000 23 0.13 Assirik area Line transects Pruetz et al. 2002

Threats

In 2007, Niokolo-Koba National Park was listed as a World Heritage site in danger because of poaching, livestock grazing, and the Sambangalou dam project (UNESCO 2019b). The park is also negatively affected by drought (UNESCO 2019b). A road bisects the park and a large-scale gold mining operation at the eastern border of PNNK exerts further pressure on the park’s resources (Lindshield et al. 2019). In addition, anthropogenic bushfires have been reported, as well as illegal logging and fishing (BirdLife International 2019, Lindshield et al. 2019).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Niokolo-Koba National Park

Category Specific threats Threat level Description Year of threat
1 Residential & commercial development Absent
2 Agriculture & aquaculture 2.3 Livestock farming & ranching Medium Livestock grazing (BirdLife International 2019, Lindshield et al. 2019, UNESCO 2019b) Ongoing (2019)
3 Energy production & mining 3.2 Mining & quarrying Present Artisanal gold mining (BirdLife International 2019, Lindshield et al. 2019, UNESCO 2019b) Ongoing (2019)
4 Transportation & service corridors 4.1 Roads & railroads Medium A road bisects the park (BirdLife International 2019, Lindshield et al. 2019, UNESCO 2019b) Ongoing (2019)
5 Biological resource use 5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals Medium Illegal hunting has been reported (BirdLife International 2019, Lindshield et al. 2019, UNESCO 2019b) Ongoing (2019)
5 Biological resource use 5.3 Logging & wood harvesting Present Illegal logging has been reported (BirdLife International 2019, Lindshield et al. 2019, UNESCO 2019b) Ongoing (2019)
5 Biological resource use 5.3 Logging & wood harvesting Present Illegal fishing (BirdLife International 2019) Ongoing (2019)
6 Human intrusions & disturbance Absent
7 Natural system modifications 7.1 Fire & fire suppression Present Anthropogenic fires (BirdLife International 2019, Lindshield et al. 2019) Ongoing (2019)
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases Unknown
9 Pollution Absent
10 Geological events Absent
11 Climate change & severe weather 11.2 Droughts Medium Droughts cause the drying of rivers and reduce flooding of marshes and flood-plains, causing damage also to forests (BirdLife International 2019) Ongoing (2019)
12 Other threat Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Niokolo-Koba National Park is managed by Direction des Parcs Nationaux (DPN). Conservation activities include anti-poaching patrols and road checkpoints (BirdLife International 2019, Lindshield at al. 20019). Park agents also engage with communities living close to the park to discourage illegal behavior, for example by supporting tourist guides, fishermen groups and providing veterinary assistance (BirdLife International 2019, Lindshield at al. 20019). The management plan from 2000 has expired and a request has been submitted to UNESCO to renew the management plan (BirdLife International 2019, UNESCO 2019b).

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Niokolo-Koba National Park

Category Specific activity Description Implementing organization(s) Year of activity
2 Counter-wildlife crime 2.1 Implement road blocks to inspect cars for illegal ape bushmeat Road checkpoints on the road bisecting the park (Lindshield at al. 20019) Ongoing (2019)
2 Counter-wildlife crime 2.3 Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols Park agents regularly conduct anti-poaching patrols (BirdLife International 2019, Lindshield at al. 20019) Ongoing (2019)
5 Protection & restoration 5.2 Legally protect ape habitat Designated a national park in 1954 (UNEP-WCMC & IUCN 2019) Since 1954
7 Economic & other incentives 7.2 Provide non-monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g., better education, infrastructure development) Communities living close to the park are supported , e.g., tourist guides, fishermen groups and providing veterinary assistance (BirdLife International 2019, Lindshield at al. 20019) Ongoing (2019)

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

No challenges have been reported.

Table 5. Challenges reported for Niokolo-Koba National Park

Challenges Specific challenges Source Year(s)
Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Niokolo-Koba 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

Research on chimpanzees in Niokolo-Koba National Park has been ongoing intermittently since the 1970s. A research site was established near Mt. Assirik by the Stirling African Primate Project (coordinated by William McGrew and Caroline Tutin) in 1976 to study the local chimpanzee community (Carter et al. 2003). Since then a wide variety of studies has been implemented on the ecology and social organization of chimpanzees, including diet, tool use and nesting behavior.

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Niokolo-Koba National Park

Behavior Source
Ant dipping McGrew et al. 2003
Ant eating McGrew et al. 2003
Ant fishing McGrew et al. 2003
Cave use compiled in Kühl et al. 2019
Fruit cleaving Marchant & McGrew 2005
Honey eating McGrew et al. 2003
Honey extraction with tool McGrew et al. 2003
Making ground nests Pruetz et al. 2008
Stone throwing McGrew et al. 2003
Termite eating McGrew et al. 2003
Termite fishing McGrew et al. 2003

Exposure to climate change impacts

External links

Relevant datasets

References

BirdLife International. 2019. Important Bird Areas factsheet: Parc National du Niokolo-Koba. Online: www.birdlife.org

Carter et al. 2003.Senegal. In: Kormos and Boesch (eds) Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of Chimpanzees in West Africa. IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group and Conservation International, Washington DC.

De Bournonville D. 1967. Contribution à l’étude du chimpanzé en République de Guinee. Bulletin de l’Institute Fondamental d’Afrique Noire, Serie A 24, 1188–1269.

Henschel P et al. 2014. The lion in West Africa is Critically Endangered, PLoS ONE 9(1): e83500.

Kühl HS et al. 2019. Human impact erodes chimpanzee behavioral diversity. Science. 363, 1453–1455.

Lindshield S et al. 2019. Informing Protection Efforts for Critically Endangered Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) and Sympatric Mammals amidst Rapid Growth of Extractive Industries in Senegal. Folia Primatologica 90: 124-136.

Marchant LF & McGrew WC. 2005. Percussive technology: chimpanzee baobab smashing and the evolutionary modelling of hominin knapping. In: Roux & Bril (eds) Stone knapping – the necessary conditions for a uniquely hominin behaviour.

McGrew WC et al. 1981. Chimpanzees in a hot, dry and open habitat: Mt. Assirik, Senegal, West Africa. Journal of Human Evolution, 10, 227–244.

McGrew WC et al. 2003. Ethnoarchaeology and elementary technology of unhabituated wild chimpanzees at Assirik, Senegal, West Africa. PaleoAnthropology 5(2):1–20

McGrew WC et al. 2014. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) and their mammalian sympatriates: Mt. Assirik, Niokolo-Koba National Park, Senegal. Primates 55: 525–532.

Pruetz JD et al. 2002. Survey of savannah chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in south-eastern Sénégal. American Journal of Primatology 58: 35–43.

Pruetz et al. 2008. Arboreal nesting as anti-predator adaptation by savanna chimpanzees in southeastern Senegal. American Journal of Primatology 70: 393-401

Pruetz JD et al. 2012. Update on the Assirik chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) population in Niokolo Koba National Park, Senegal. Pan Africa News 19: 8–11.

Tutin CEG et al. 1983. Social organization of savannah-dwelling chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes verus, at Mt. Assirik, Senegal. Primates 24: 154–173.

UNEP-WCMC, IUCN. 2019. Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN Online: www.protectedplanet.net

UNESCO. 2019a. Niokolo-Koba National Park. Online: whc.unesco.org

UNESCO. 2019b. State of Conservation - Niokolo-Koba National Park. Online: whc.unesco.org/soc


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