Yoko Council Forest

Central Africa > Cameroon > Yoko Council Forest

Summary

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• chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are present in Yoko Council Forest.
• It has been estimated that 113 (CI: 45-280) individuals occur in the site.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 295 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are pastoral transhumance and hunting.
• Conservation activities are not documented.

Site characteristics

Yoko Council forest is located in central Cameroon.

Table 1. Basic site information for Yoko Council Forest

Area	295 km²
Coordinates	5.063443, 12.625930
Designation	Community forest
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical/tropical swamp forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

In 2022, a study was conducted to assess the chimpanzee population density and distribution in the site, as well as habitat use, and threats (Kamgang et al. 2023).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Yoko Council Forest

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	2022	113 (45-280)	0.38 (0.15-0.94)		Yoko Council Forest	Marked nest count	Kamgang et al. 2023	average chimpanzee nest density of 69.3 [95% CI 54.9-86.7] nests/km2

Threats

During a 2022 survey of the area, the signs of human activities were collected, namely poaching signs (traps, shell casings, hunting camps), pastoral transhumance clues (cattle droppings, camps, burning or degraded areas, cattle, and illegal logging) and fishing clues (fishing barriers, fishing camps). The main threats recorded were transhumance (frequency of observation: 75.33%), hunting (13. 66%), logging (8.81%) and fishing (2.2%), which were mainly observed in the south-west sector of the forest (Kamgang et al. 2023).

Table 3. Threats to apes in Yoko Council Forest

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.3 Livestock farming & ranching	High		Nomadic grazing; occupation of all savannah spaces by herds of cattle, sheep, Mbororo tracks and burns to facilitate the movement of herds and the renewal of pastures (Kamgang et al. 2023).	Ongoing (2023)
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Medium		Traps, shell casings, and hunting camps recorded (Kamgang et al. 2023).	Ongoing (2023)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Medium		Illegal logging (Kamgang et al. 2023).	Ongoing (2023).
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 Yoko Council Forest

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 Yoko Council Forest

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

A 2022 study by Kamgang et al. (2022) estimated a chimpanzee nest decay rate of 77.3 days, for an estimated abundance of about 113 [95% CI 45-280] chimpanzees in the forest. Chimpanzees were found to be nesting in Marantaceae forests and swampy forests instead of savannah, mosaics-savannah forests, and galleries forests. 24 nesting tree species of chimpanzees have been recorded with Khaya grandifolia and Uapaca guineensis being the most used trees (Kamgang et al. 2023).

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Yoko Council Forest

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Kamgang, S. A., Dongmo, E. M., Kirsten, I., Jefferson, P. M. J., Mveimané, A., Bastin, D., ... & Eric-Moise, B. F. (2023). The Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) of the Yoko Council Forest in Cameroon: Abundance, Activity Pattern and Threats. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 8(2), 38.

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 06/10/2023