Marahoué National Park

West Africa > Côte d'Ivoire > Marahoué National Park

Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are now extirpated in Marahoué National Park.
• This site has a total size of 1,010 km².
• Chimpanzees are extirpated due to hunting and large-scale deforestation driven by the expansion of agricultural areas.

Site characteristics

Marahoué National Park (IUCN category: II) was established in 1968 (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2019). It covers an area of 1010 km2 and is located in the central Côte d´Ivoire in the Bouafle region near Lake Kossou. Marahoué NP is 275 km (170 miles) northwest of Abidjan. Marahoué NP is managed by the Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Réserves (OIPR). The park consists of two ecological zones: close forest in the south-west of the park and savanna in the north-eastern part. In a survey in 2007 signs of different mammal and bird species were found, including forest elephant (Loxodonta africana), pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis), African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), and bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus). However, the park is strongly affected by illegal activities, especially forest clearing for cocoa plantations and poaching, and the current status of the biodiversity is unknown (Campbell et al. 2008, N’Goran et al. 2006, N’Goran et al. 2007, WCF 2012).

Table 1. Basic site information for Marahoué National Park

Area	1,010 km²
Coordinates	7.11, -6.02
Designation	National Park
Habitat types	Subtropical/ tropical moist lowland forest, moist savanna, plantations

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) population in Marahoué National Park was first estimated at 1407 individuals by Marchesi et al. (1995). However, due to the relatively small number of transects surveyed, large uncertainties are associated with this estimate. In 2007, a survey that covered 167.5 km of systematically located transects across the entire park yielded a conservative population estimate of fewer than 50 individuals (N´Goran et al. 2007). In 2012, a rapid assessment was conducted by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation WCF in collaboration with Afrique Nature, and no signs of chimpanzees were found.

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Marahoué 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	1990	1407 (weaned)	1.64	15.6	entire area	Line transects (Distance)	Marchesi et al. 1995	Total survey effort: 15 km
Pan troglodytes verus	2006	< 50		0.01	entire area	Line transects (Distance)	N’Goran et al. 2006	Total survey effort: 154.5 km
Pan troglodytes verus	2007	< 50		0.03	entire area	Line transects (Distance)	N’Goran et al. 2007, Campbell et al. 2008	Total survey effort: 167.5 km
Pan troglodytes verus	2012	0		0	entire area	Line transects (Distance)	WCF 2012	Total survey effort: 36.9 km

Threats

Marahoué National Park has lost 93% of its forest cover between 2002 and 2008, which may be directly linked to the civil unrest prevailing in the country since 2002 (Campbell et al. 2008). Deforestation was many driven clearing land for agriculture using fires, especially for cocoa plantations, and illegal logging (Campbell et al. 2008, N’Goran et al. 2006, N’Goran et al. 2007, WCF 2012). In addition, the presence of people in the park and illegal hunting of chimpanzees likely caused the extinction of chimpanzees in Marahoué NP (Struhsaker and Bakarr 1999, Denis 2015).

Table 3. Threats to great apes in Marahoué National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development	1.1 Housing & urban areas	High		presence of people in the park, campsites and small villages (WCF 2012)	Ongoing (2012)
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	High		especially cocoa plantations (WCF 2012)	Ongoing (2012)
	2.3 Livestock farming & ranching	Low		signs of cattle grazing (WCF 2012)	Ongoing (2012)
3. Energy production & mining		Not reported
4. Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	Medium		presence of illegal paths, roads and vehicles (WCF 2012)	Ongoing (2012)
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High		poaching widespread (WCF 2012)	Ongoing (2012)
6. Human intrusions & disturbance		Not reported
7. Natural system modifications		Not reported
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution		Not reported
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

As chimpanzees are extirpated from Marahoué National Park no conservation activities are implemented.

Table 4. Conservation activities in Marahoué National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	Not applicable
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	Not applicable
3. Energy production & mining	Not applicable
4. Transportation & service corridors	Not applicable
5. Biological resource use	Not applicable
6. Human intrusions & disturbance	Not applicable
7. Natural system modifications	Not applicable
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	Not applicable
9. Pollution	Not applicable
10. Education & Awareness	Not applicable
11. Habitat Protection	Not applicable
12. Species Management	Not applicable
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not applicable

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Denis (2015) conducted a comprehensive study into why Marahoué National Park degraded. The study was based on interviews with different stakeholders in Marahoué National Park and pointed out that already since its creation in 1968 farmers were present in the park and in 1990 13% of the park was occupied by people, and this percentage has grown steadily since (Denis 2015). Government support for maintaining the protective status of Marahoué was weak and inconsistent. There is also widespread corruption and a lack of technical means as well as human resources to ensure law enforcement (Denis 2015).

Table 5. Challenges reported for Marahoué National Park

Challenge	Source
Corruption	Denis 2015
Lack of government support	Denis 2015
Lack of human resources	Denis 2015
Lack of law enforcement	Denis 2015
Lack of technical means	Denis 2015

Research activities

As chimpanzees are extirpated from Marahoué National Park no research is conducted on chimpanzees.

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Great ape behaviors reported for Marahoué National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Denis G. 2015. Le parc de la Marahoué : de la logique de conservation à la logique de prédation. European Scientific Journal March 11(8): 1857-7881
Campbell G et al. 2008. Alarming decline of West African chimpanzees in Côte d´Ivoire. Current Biology 18(19).
Marchesi P et al. 1995. Census and Distribution in Côte d’Ivoire. Primates 36(4): 591-607.
N’Goran KP et al. 2007. Résultats de la première phase du biomonitoring au Parc National de Marahoué (mai 2006 – décembre 2006). Unpublished report. WCF/OIPR. Online: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation
N’Goran KP et al. 2008. Résultats importants des activités de biomonitoring au Parc National de la Marahoué (mai 2007 – novembre 2007). Unpublished report. WCF/OIPR. Online: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation
Struhsaker TT, Bakarr MI. 1999. A rapid survey of primates and other large mammals in Marahoue National Park, Cote d'Ivoire. In: Schulenberg TS et al. (eds.) Une Evaluation Biologique du Parc National de la Marahoué Park, Côte d’Ivoire. Conservation International.
UNEP-WCMC, IUCN. 2019. Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN Online: www.protectedplanet.net
WCF. 2012. Annual report 2012 – activities of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation for improved conservation of chimpanzees and their habitat in West Africa. Online: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki Team Date: 16/10/2019