Kibira National Park

East Africa > Burundi > Kibira National Park

Summary

• Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) are present in Kibira National Park.
• It has been estimated that 204 (CI: 122 – 339) individuals occur in the site.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 400 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are hunting and logging.
• Conservation activities have focused on running tourist projects and involving local communities.
• The park is adjacent to Nyungwe Forest National Park in Rwanda.

Site characteristics

Located in northwestern Burundi, Kibira National Park is contiguous with Nyungwe Forest National Park in Rwanda; together they form a 130,000 ha montane forest block (BirdLife International 2020). The site lies from 1,600 to 2,666 m of altitude. Until 1933, Kibira was a royal hunting reserve (FAO). Historically, parts of the forest in Kibira have been very important to local people, who consider it sacred and possessing magical qualities (FAO). Between 1933 and 1980 Kibira was classified as the Congo-Nile Ridge Forest Reserve, under Belgian rule and after Burundian Independence in 1962 (FAO). From 1980, active conservation efforts began at the site; in the same year, it was declared a National Park (Hakizimana et al. 2015). In addition to Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), other primate species found at the site include Ruwenzori colobus (Colobus angolensis ruwenzorii), golden monkey (Cercopithecus mitis kandti), and L'Hoest's monkey (Cercopithecus l’hoesti). The park is also home to many of the Albertine Rift endemic bird species, and is a designated Important Bird Area (BirdLife International 2020).

Table 1. Basic site information for Kibira National Park

Area	400 km²
Coordinates	-3.001130 S, 29.495718 E
Designation	National Park
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical montane forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Kibira 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 schweinfurthii	2011-2013	204 (122 – 339)	0.509 (0.305 – 0.847)		Kibira National Park	Line transects (Distance)	Hakizimana & Huynen 2013	Survey effort: 864 km

Threats

Kibira forest originally covered about 900 km², but this was reduced to 400 km² as a result of a tea plantation extension program implemented by the government in the 1970s. As the land surrounding Kibira National Park was particularly suitable for tea cultivation, a large area was deforested for the program (Hakizimana et al. 2015). Rebels who occupied the forest during several years of civil conflict, between 1994 and 2007, logged and extensively hunted large mammals (Hakizimana et al. 2015).

Table 3. Threats to apes in Kibira National Park

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		Deforestation as a result of agricultural expansion (Hakizimana et al. 2015).	1970s
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		Hunting by rebels who occupied the forest (Hakizimana et al. 2015).
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present, but threat severity is unknown		Logging by rebels who occupied the forest for several years (Hakizimana et al. 2015).
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Absent
7. Natural system modifications		Absent
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

BirdLife International - Kibira National Park

Table 4. Conservation activities in Kibira 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	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	The site is a National Park.	Ongoing
12. Species Management	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	13.4. Run tourist projects and ensure permanent human presence at site	Chimpanzee tracking, bird watching, safaris, and other activities offered (Kibira National Park).	Ongoing

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Kibira National Park

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

A study found that chimpanzees in Kibira National Park are selective in the choice of nest trees, preferring to nest in Parinari excelsa trees, which occur in low densities at the park. On the other hand, the more abundant Macaranga kilimandscharica trees were less used (Hakizimana et al. 2015).

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Kibira National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

Kibira National Park

Relevant datasets

A.P.E.S Portal

References

BirdLife International. (2020). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Kibira National Park. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 08/12/2020.
Hakizimana, D., Hambuckers, A., & Brotcorne, F. (2015). Characterization of nest sites of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in Kibira National Park, Burundi.African Primates, 10,1–12.
Hakizimana, D. & Huyne, M. (2013). Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) Population Density and Abundance in Kibira National Park, Burundi. Pan Africa News, 20(2).

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 14/01/2021