Azagny National Park

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Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Azagny National Park.
• It was estimated that 36 (95% CI: 13-97) weaned individuals occurred in the site in 2007.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• This site has a total size of 194 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are human intrusion, poaching and subsistence farming (illegal cocoa and rubber plantations).
• No conservation activities were reported for Azagny National Park.
• Only about a third of the park is presumably habitat that chimpanzees can effectively use.

Site characteristics

Azagny National Park is situated 100 km due west of Abidjan. The vegetation of the park is varied and mostly comprises swamps of various types, which cover two-thirds of the park, swamp-forest, inundated riverine forest, relatively small amounts of moist evergreen forest on areas of higher ground, and mangrove. There is also some littoral savanna woodland. Azagny was originally created a protected area in 1981 (Pullan 1988) in part for the conservation of forest elephants (Loxodonta africana) and forest buffaloes (Syncerus caffer), both of which occur in good numbers, benefiting from the protection of the swamps. Other mammals of global conservation concern include olive colobus (Procolobus verus), white-thighed colobus (Colobus vellerosus), white-naped mangabeys (Cercocebus lunulatus), Roloway’s monkeys (Cercopithecus roloway), and slender-snouted crocodiles (Crocodylus cataphractus, BirdLife International 2019).

Table 1. Basic site information for Azagny National Park

Species	'Pan troglodytes verus
Area	194 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 5.21 , Lon: -4.88
Type of site	Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Subtropical/tropical swamp forest, Savanna, Wetlands (lakes, rivers, streams, bogs, marshes), Marine coastal/supratidal, Urban areas, Subtropical/tropical heavily degraded former forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

In 1988 (Hoppe-Dominik 1991) and 1989-1990 (Marchesi et al. 1995), strip transect surveys were conducted and yielded estimates of 30 and 57 individuals, respectively (whereby the 1995 estimate includes only weaned individuals). A line transect survey conducted by Herbinger (2007) recorded 88 nests on 56 km of transects surveyed. Transects of 1 km length, oriented in direction west/east, were separated from each other by 1 km in each direction and distributed systematically throughout the park. The precision of the abundance estimate of 47 weaned individuals (equivalent to 59 individuals in total using a correction factor of 0.8) was very low (CV= 52.4%), due to the fact that nests were recorded on only five out of 56 transects. Another survey was conducted in 2012 and differed in methodology in that it was a Rapid Assessment that surveyed recces of a total length of 23.5 km (WCF 2012). Recces were located in areas with a high probability of chimpanzee presence (based on previous surveys and chimpanzee habitat preferences). These methodological differences preclude the calculation of a population trend.

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Azagny National Park

Species	Year	Occurrence	Encounter or vistation rate (nests/km; ind/day)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Survey area	Sampling method	Analytical framework	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes verus	1988			0.15	30	Azagny National Park (200 km²)	Interviews, Strip transect		Hoppe-Dominik 1991	Depending on habitat, straight strip transects were 20, 40 or 100 m wide
Pan troglodytes verus	1989-1990			1.64	57	Azagny National Park (217.4 km²)	Informed guess		Marchesi et al. 1995	Mean density calculated for the national parks of the Guinean belt
Pan troglodytes verus	2007		3.1	0.72 (0.27-1.92)	47 (18-125)	Chimpanzee habitat within Azagny National Park (65 km²)	Line transects		Herbinger 2007	Total survey effort: 56 km, estimate includes only weaned individuals
Pan troglodytes verus	2012		5.02			Azagny National Park (174 km²)	Reconnaissance walk		WCF 2012	Recconaissance walk, total survey effort: 23.5 km
Pan troglodytes verus	2010-2013	Present				Azagny National Park (194 km²)	Reconnaissance walk		Bitty et al. 2015	Recconaissance walk, not recorded for sites

Threats

The small population of chimpanzees in Azagny National Park is highly threatened because of habitat destruction, mainly illegal rubber and cocoa plantations, in an area that is naturally already partly unsuitable for chimpanzees due to deep swamp areas (Herbinger 2007). Bitty et al. (2015) estimated that about 40% (77.6 km2) of the natural habitat inside the park has already been converted into cocoa plantations. Moreover, high hunting pressure poses a direct threat to chimpanzee survival (Herbinger 2007, 2012, Bitty et al. 2015). Lastly, the strong and regular presence of humans within park borders due to fishing, hunting and agricultural activities exposes this small population to health risks related to human-chimpanzee disease transmission (Herbinger 2007).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Azagny National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
1 Residential & commercial development		Absent	Bitty et al. (2015) estimate the human population size inside the park at zero.
10 Geological events		Absent
12 Other threat		Absent
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Cocoa and rubber plantations (Bitty et al. 2015)	Ongoing (2015)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High (more than 70% of population affected)		Ongoing (2015)
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	8.1 Invasive non-native/alien species	High (more than 70% of population affected)	High risk of contracting human diseases by chimpanzees due to human intrusions (Bitty et al. 2015)	Ongoing (2015)
9 Pollution		Unknown
11 Climate change & severe weather		Unknown

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Although the site was legally protected in 1981, no additional conservation interventions have been reported for Azagny National Park.

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Azagny National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
5 Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat	The site is designated as a national park since 1981 (BirdLife International 2019).		1981-Ongoing (2024)
6 Species management	6.7 Translocate (capture & release) wild apes from human impacted sites to natural habitat elsewhere	20 Liberian chimpanzees were released on an island on the park border in 1985; six remained in 1995 (Hoppe-Dominik 1991, Marchesi et al. 1995)		1985.0

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Economic, political, and social unrest, including a civil war (2002-2004), has been cited as an impediment (Bitty et al. 2015).

Table 5. Challenges reported for Azagny National Park

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
6 Safety and stability	6.3 Civil unrest/war	Bitty et al. 2015

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Azagny 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

All the above listed surveys also recorded information on human impact.

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Azagny National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

BirdLife International (2019) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Azagny National Park. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/09/2019.

Bitty EA, Bi SG, Bene J-CK, Kouassi PK, McGraw WS. 2015. Cocoa farming and primate extirpation inside Cote d’Ivoire’s protected areas. Tropical Conservation Science 8: 95-113.

Herbinger I. 2007. Chimpanzee Survey in Azagny National Park. Unpublished report.

Marchesi P, Marchesi N, Fruth B, Boesch C. 1995. Census and distribution of chimpanzees in Ivory Coast. Primates 36: 591-607.

Hoppe-Dominik B. 1991. Distribution and status of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) on the Ivory Coast. Primate Report 31: 45-75.

Pullan RA. 1988. Conservation and the Development of National Parks in the Humid Tropics of Africa. Journal of Biogeography 15: 171-183.

Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) 2012. Evaluation Rapide de la Diversité Faunique Terrestre de Quatre Parcs Nationaux en Côte d’Ivoire. Unpublished report.

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