Monts Birougou National Park

Central Africa > Gabon > Monts Birougou National Park

Summary

• Central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are present in Monts Birougou National Park.
• It has been estimated that 501-1000 apes occur in the site.
• The great ape population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 683 km².
• Key threats are not documented.
• Conservation activities are not documented.

Site characteristics

Monts Birougou National Park was established in 2002. The park comprises forests, swamps, savanna, valleys, and mountainous zones up to 900 m asl, which are the source of the Nyanga and Ngounié rivers and their main tributaries (Ramsar 2007). About 20 different primate species are found in the site, including the endangered western lowland gorilla and chimpanzee (Ramsar 2007). Portions of the park have been designated as a Ramsar site since 2007.

Table 1. Basic site information for Monts Birougou National Park

Area	683 km²
Coordinates	-1.801520 S, 12.303327 E
Designation	National Park
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, savanna, subtropical/tropical moist montane forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Based on a 2006-2007 survey, the park has an abundance class of 501-1000 great apes (Sop et al. 2015).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Monts Birougou 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 and Pan troglodytes troglodytes	2006-2007	690 (455-1028)	1 (0.66-1.49)	1.56	690 sqkm	Line transects	Aba'a, R., and Bezangoye A. (2007)	Observers could not discriminate between the nests of gorillas and chimpanzees; they could therefore not estimate the densities for each species.
Gorilla gorilla gorilla

Threats

Table 3. Threats to apes in Monts Birougou National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	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		Unknown
6. Human intrusion & 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 options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities in Monts Birougou National Park

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

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Monts Birougou National Park

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Monts Birougou National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

Ramsar

Relevant datasets

A.P.E.S Portal

References

Sop, T., Cheyne, S. M., Maisels, F., Wich, S. A., & Williamson, E. A. (2015). Ape Population Abundance Estimates (Online-only annex).

Aba'a, R., et Bezangoye A. (2007) Estimation de la densité, de l’abondance et de la distribution relative des grands mammifères et l’impact des activités anthropiques au Parc National des Monts Birougou et ses environs: Etablissement d’une ligne de base pour le monitoring. Rapport final. WCS-Gabon

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 08/12/2021
Page edited by: Tene Sop Date: 01/03/2022