West Africa > Côte d'Ivoire > Mont Sângbé National Park

Français | Português | Español | Bahasa Indonesia | Melayu

Summary

Loading map...

Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Mont Sângbé National Park.
A population of 15 individuals was estimated in 2016.
The chimpanzee population trend is decreasing.
The site has a total size of 975.54 km².
Key threats to chimpanzees are hunting and habitat loss due to agricultural expansion.
Conservation activities implemented include biomonitoring.

Site characteristics

Mont Sângbé National Park is located in western Côte d’Ivoire, bordered by the Sassandra river to the east (BirdLife International 2022). The Bafing river, an affluent of the Sassandra, flows east across the southern part of the park. The park forms part of the eastern end of the highland chain that extends through Guinea and northern Liberia. The terrain is rugged, with many inselbergs and several peaks that reach over 700 m (BirdLife International 2022; Cohen, H. pers. comm. 2022). The vegetation consists mainly of dense savanna woodland with some small patches of deciduous forest as islands in the savanna or as galleries along watercourses (BirdLife International 2022).

Table 1. Basic site information for Mont Sângbé National Park

Species	Pan troglodytes verus
Area	975.54 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 8.013935 , Lon: -7.290896
Type of site	Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical dry forest, subtropical/tropical moist forest, savanna, rocky areas (e.g., inland cliffs, mountain peaks)
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Reconnaissance surveys were conducted at the site in 2015 and 2016. Surveys in the southern sector of the park could not be completed due to the difficulty of the terrain. No traces of chimpanzees were found in the southern sector, but there may have been chimpanzees in the areas that were difficult to access (Cohen, H. pers. comm. 2022). North of the Bafing River appeared to be a group of about 15 individuals. Based on genetic analyses, 14 individuals were identified from over 200 faecal samples; the individuals were found to be extremely inbred (Lester et al. 2021).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Mont Sângbé National Park

Species	Year	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Area	Method	Source	Comments
Pan troglodytes verus	2015-2016	15		Mont Sângbé National Park	Reconnaissance walk	Cohen, H. pers. comm. 2022	A maximum of 13-14 fresh nests were reported at any daily site.
Pan troglodytes verus	2020	70 (40-123)	0.023 (0.013-0.042)	Mont Sângbé National Park	Line transects & recces	Beda, 2020
Pan troglodytes verus	2021	54 (30-98)		Mont Sângbé National Park	Line transects & recces	Beda et al. 2021
Pan troglodytes verus	2022	53 (35-115)		Mont Sângbé National Park	Line transects & recces	Beda, 2023

Threats

The national park is surrounded by savanna and farmland, making it a geographic island with low or no connectivity to other chimpanzee populations (Cohen, H. pers. comm. 2022). Although chimpanzees are not targeted by hunters, they are killed opportunistically. Many in the local population do not have a taboo against eating chimpanzee meat (Cohen, H. pers. comm. 2022).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Mont Sângbé National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
1 Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Widespread destruction of the landscape for cocoa plantations in particular, observed during a 2016 survey (Cohen, H. pers. comm. 2022).	2016-Ongoing (2022)
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.3 Livestock farming & ranching	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Cattle pasturing; herders enter the savanna/dry forest areas of the park. Grass is burnt annually, and this wildfire can penetrate quite deep into the wet forest (Cohen, H. pers. comm. 2022).	Ongoing (2022)
3 Energy production & mining		Unknown
4 Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Chimpanzees are not targeted for hunting in the park, but have been killed there when the opportunity has presented itself (Cohen, H. pers. comm. 2022). The comparison of the recorded aggression indices during this phase with those from previous phases (2017 to 2021) suggests that poaching is the main threat to the PNMS. A comparison of the data from 2017 to 2022 shows a decline in aggression indices (Beda et al. 2023). There is a notable disparity in the level of poaching between the rainy and dry seasons. Specifically, poaching is more intense during the dry season than in the rainy season, a trend that was corroborated by Chiapo in 2022.	2017-Ongoing (2022)
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	12.1 Other threat	Present (unknown severity)	Climate change will likely impact the site, e.g., impact of rivers drying up or diminishing sources of permanent rivers, as well as other effects due to temperature and rainfall changes (Cohen, H. pers. comm. 2022).	Ongoing (2022)
12 Other threat		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Mont Sângbé National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
2 Counter-wildlife crime	2.11 Implement monitoring surveillance strategies (e.g., SMART) or use monitoring data to improve effectiveness of patrols	In the Mont Sangbé National Park, ecological monitoring is conducted annually by the Western Zone Directorate with support from technical and financial partners. This monitoring focuses on a set of animal species identified as conservation targets and the factors influencing their distribution. The goal of the program for the 2020-2030 period, as outlined in the Park's Management and Development Plan, is to "Contribute to improving the management of the MSNP based on knowledge derived from the results of ecological monitoring and research." The program centers around assessing the conservation status of the SMNP based on the ecological monitoring findings and capitalizing on research outcomes (Beda et al. 2021).	Office ivoirien des Parcs et Réserves	2017-Ongoing (2022)

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Mont Sângbé National Park

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
2 Resources and capacity	2.1 Lack of capacity/training	Beda, 2023	Ongoing (2022)
2 Resources and capacity	2.5 Lack of equipment/transportation	Beda, 2023	Ongoing (2022)
2 Resources and capacity	2.4 Lack of continuous/long-term funding	Beda, 2023	Ongoing (2022)

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Mont Sângbé National Park

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity	2.4 Adequate data to inform and evaluate conservation actions	Beda, 2023	Ongoing (2022)
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support	4.1 Effective legislation and law enforcement	Beda, 2023	Ongoing (2022)
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Research activities

The site was surveyed as part of the Pan African Programme (PanAf).

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Mont Sângbé National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

Exposure to climate change impacts

External links

Relevant datasets

References

BirdLife International (2022) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Sangbe Mountain National Park. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 27/06/2022.

Lester, J. D., Vigilant, L., Gratton, P., McCarthy, M. S., Barratt, C. D., Dieguez, P., ... & Arandjelovic, M. (2021). Recent genetic connectivity and clinal variation in chimpanzees. Communications biology, 4(1), 1-11.

Beda, A. A., N’dri, K. P., Zannou, M. G., & Tondossama, A. (2021). Etat de conservation du Parc national du Mont Sangbé : Résultats du suivi écologique, Phase 5. Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Réserves/Direction de Zone Ouest. Man, Côte d’Ivoire. 36p.

Beda, A. A. (2023). Rapport suivi écologique du Parc National du Mont Sangbé 2022: Suivi écologique phase 6, version du 19. 04.2023. Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Réserves/Direction de Zone Ouest. Man, Côte d’Ivoire. 63p.

Beda, A. A. (2020). Etat de conservation du Parc National du Mont Sangbé 2022: Rapport de suivi écologique Phase 4. Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Réserves/Direction de Zone Ouest. Man, Côte d’Ivoire. 45p.

Page created by: Heather Cohen & A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 2022-07-04

Page updated by: Diorne Zausa Date: 2024-11-30

Test2

Contents