Batéké Plateau National Park
Central Africa > Gabon > Batéké Plateau National Park
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Summary
- Central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) & western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are present in Batéké Plateau National Park.
- The population sizes are unknown.
- The great ape population trend is unknown.
- The site has a total size of 2,054.25 km².
- Key threats to great apes are logging and poaching.
- Conservation activities have focused on rehabilitation and reintroduction of gorillas.
Site characteristics
The Batéké Plateau National Park was established in 2002. The park is located in southeastern Gabon; together with the bordering Ogooué-Leketi National Park in Congo, the parks form a transboundary protected area covering more than 5,500 square kilometers (Dasgupta 2018). The park is situated in a transitional landscape between the southeastern edge of the Gabonese rainforest and the northwestern limit of the savannah-dominated Batéké Plateau (Hedwig et al. 2018). The site harbors an interesting biodiversity found nowhere else in the Congo Basin. In addition to chimpanzees and western lowland gorillas, mammal species such as the lion (Panthera leo), Grimm's duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia), the side striped jackal (Canis adustus), and the Denham's bustard (Neotis denhami) are found in the park (WCS). In the gallery forests of the park, typical forest dwellers such as elephant, buffalo, bushpigs, duikers, and several monkey species are found (WCS).
Table 1. Basic site information for Batéké Plateau National Park
| Species | Pan troglodytes troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla gorilla |
| Area | 2,054.25 km² |
| Coordinates | Lat: -2.246122 S , Lon: 14.034701 E |
| Type of site | Protected area (National Park) |
| Habitat types | Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Savanna |
| Type of governance |
Ape status
Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Batéké Plateau 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 troglodytes & Gorilla gorilla gorilla | Unknown |
Threats
Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Batéké Plateau National Park
| Category | Specific threats | Threat level | 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 | 5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals | Present, but threat severity unknown | Wildlife throughout the Bateke Plateau is highly endangered by commercial hunting (WCS n.d.). However, camera trap surveys in 2014-2016 did not detect poachers nor poaching signs (Hedwig et al. 2018). | Unknown |
| 5 Biological resource use | 5.3 Logging & wood harvesting | Present, but threat severity unknown | Logging and firewood collection (WCS n.d.). | Unknown |
| 6 Human intrusions & 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 threat | Absent |
Conservation activities
A gorilla reintroduction programme, Projet Protection des Gorilles Gabon, is located in the park (Le Flohic et al. 2015). Two groups composed of both wild-born and captive-born orphans have been released by the Projet Protection des Gorilles (PPG) of The Aspinall Foundation into the Batéké Plateau National Park in Gabon in 2001 and 2004, with high post-release survival, successful reproduction, and female transfer between groups (Le Flohic et al. 2015). The Plateaux Bateke National Park was officially designated on the Gabonese side in 2002, and management activities began there in 2004, in collaboration with the Projet de Protection des Gorilles and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS n.d.). An anti-poaching programme is implemented in partnership with the Gabonese Government and the WCS (Pearson et al. 2007).
Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Batéké Plateau 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. | Ongoing (2022) | |
| 6 Species management | 6.4 Provide supplementary food for apes | During the rearing period, gorillas were provided fresh Aframomum sp. for feeding and nesting, and water daily. Depending on their age and ability to feed on forest vegetation, gorillas were either fed with milk products developed for human infants (Nestle, NAN), or cereal and milk based meals (Nestle, CERELAC) (Le Flohic et al. 2015). | Unknown | |
| 6 Species management | 6.8 Reintroduction of apes (captively-bred or rehabilitated indviduals) | The specific release site, along the Mpassa river, was selected due to the absence of wild gorillas, based on ground surveys (Pearson et al. 2007). | 2001 & 2004 | |
| 6 Species management | 6.9 Rehabilitate injured/orphaned apes | The rehabilitation process appears to be successful, as orphans use their environment and interact socially in a similar way to wild gorillas, but the influence of humans in their activity-budget remains high (Le Flohic et al. 2015). | Unknown |
Challenges
Table 5. Challenges reported for Batéké Plateau National Park
| Challenges | Specific challenges | Source | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not reported |
Enablers
Table 6. Enablers reported for Batéké Plateau 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
A 2014-2016 camera trap survey led to the discovery of a lion and mandrills in the park (Hedwig et al. 2018). Lions were previously thought to be extinct in the northern part of the Western-Congolian savannah-forest mosaic (Hedwig et al. 2018). The black-footed mongoose and long-nosed mongoose were also detected for the first time at the site (Hedwig et al. 2018). Observations from the survey resulted in a total number of 36 medium to large-sized mammal species confirmed to be currently occurring in the park (Hedwig et al. 2018).
Documented behaviours
Table 7. Behaviours documented for Batéké Plateau National Park
| Behavior | Source |
|---|---|
| Not reported |
Exposure to climate change impacts
External links
Relevant datasets
References
Le Flohic, G., Motsch, P., DeNys, H., Childs, S., Courage, A., & King, T. (2015). Behavioural ecology and group cohesion of juvenile western lowland gorillas (Gorilla g. gorilla) during rehabilitation in the Batéké Plateaux National Park, Gabon. PloS one, 10(3), e0119609.
Pearson, L., Aczel, P., Mahé, S., Courage, A., & King, T. (2008). Gorilla reintroduction in Gabon. Gorilla Gazette, 21, 41-44.
Hedwig, D., Kienast, I., Bonnet, M., Curran, B. K., Courage, A., Boesch, C., ... & King, T. (2018). A camera trap assessment of the forest mammal community within the transitional savannah‐forest mosaic of the bateke plateau national park, Gabon. African Journal of Ecology, 56(4), 777-790.
Dasgupta, S. (2018). Republic of Congo names new national park, home to gorillas, elephants. Online: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/republic-of-congo-names-new-national-park-home-to-gorillas-elephants/
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