Cabinda

Central Africa > Angola > Cabinda

Summary

• Central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are present in Angola, Cabinda.
• It has been estimated that 1,705 (CI: 1,027–4,801) chimpanzees and 1,652 (CI: 1,174–3,311) gorillas occur in the site.
• The great ape population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 7,300 km².
• Key threats to great apes are bushmeat hunting and habitat loss as a result of agricultural expansion and logging.
• Conservation activities are not documented.

Site characteristics

The Cabinda exclave lies north of the Congo river. Cabinda is separated from the rest of Angola by 30 km of DRC (Caldecott & Miles 2005). It is the only part of Angola in which great apes are found. The forest of Maiombe (2,000 sq. km) supports the largest population of great apes in Cabinda (Caldecott & Miles 2005; Heffernan 2005). The Maiombe forest is part of a larger rainforest that spreads across southwest Gabon, east and northwest of Cabinda, and southwestern areas of Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo (Heffernan 2005). In addition to the western lowland gorilla and central chimpanzee, other species inhabiting the area include forest elephants, grey parrots, guenons, various duikers, and dwarf forest buffalos (Heffernan 2005).

Table 1. Basic site information for Cabinda

Area	7,300 km²
Coordinates	-4.682290 S, 12.628115 E
Designation	Unclassified
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical swamp forest, subtropical/tropical mangrove vegetation above high-tide level

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Great ape population estimates have been difficult to obtain, as civil conflict has deterred field studies (Caldecott & Miles 2005). However, based on a density distribution model, the predicted chimpanzee population in Cabinda for 2013 was 1,705 (95% CI: 1,027-4,801) individuals, and the predicted gorilla population was 1,652 (95% CI: 1,174-3,311) individuals (Strindberg et al. 2018).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Cabinda

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 troglodytes	2005-2013	1,705 (1,027–4,801)			Angola, Cabinda	Model estimate	Strindberg et al. 2018
Gorilla gorilla gorilla	2013	1,652 (1,174–3,311)			Angola, Cabinda	Model estimate	Strindberg et al. 2018

Threats

Table 3. Threats to apes in Cabinda

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	High		Encroachment into forest areas for agricultural expansion (Heffernan 2005).	Ongoing (2005)
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present, but threat severity is unknown		Bushmeat hunting for subsistence and commercial purposes (Caldecott & Miles 2005).	Ongoing (2005)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High		Local and commercial logging is widespread, often involving clear-cutting large areas (Heffernan 2005).	Ongoing (2005)
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

Since 2008, the UN Environment and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have assisted Angola, Congo, and DR Congo to create a cooperation agreement for the management of the Mayombe Forest Transfrontier Protected Area (TPA). A transboundary management plan was approved in 2013. Due to the lack of progress in the implementation of the plan, recent discussions have been held towards the revitalization of the initiative (UNEP).

Table 4. Conservation activities in Cabinda

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 Cabinda

Challenge	Source
Civil unrest	Caldecott & Miles 2005
Lack of law enforcement	Caldecott & Miles 2005

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Cabinda

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

Relevant datasets

A.P.E.S Portal

References

Caldecott, J. & Miles, L. (2005). World atlas of great apes and their conservation. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Heffernan, J. (2005). Elephants of Cabinda; Mission report, Angola, April 2005. Fauna & Flora International & United Nations Development Programme in co-operation with the Dept. of Urban Affairs and Environment, Cabinda, Angola.
Strindberg, S., Maisels, F., Williamson, E. A., Blake, S., Stokes, E. J., Aba’a, R., Abitsi, G., Agbor, A., Ambahe, R. D., Bakabana, P. C., Bechem, M., Berlemont, A., Bokoto de Semboli, B., Boundja, P. R., Bout, N., Breuer, T., Campbell, G., De Wachter, P., Ella Akou, M., … Wilkie, D. S. (2018). Guns, germs, and trees determine density and distribution of gorillas and chimpanzees in Western Equatorial Africa. Science Advances, 4(4), eaar2964. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aar2964

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 05/01/2021