African pangolins are exceptionally difficult to monitor in the wild, which means that assessing threats and impacts to these species also remains a challenge. Local ecological knowledge (LEK) surveys have been recommended as an important tool to collect data for small elusive species. We carried out community-based interviews in 20 villages surrounding Mpem et Djim and Deng-Deng National Parks to gather information on local ecological and traditional medicine knowledge, perceived population status, and the level of conservation awareness amongst local people concerning giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), and black-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla). The arboreal black-bellied pangolin was least known by local people, and along with the giant pangolin was the least recently observed species. The white-bellied pangolin was reported to be the most recently observed species by most people. Local people reported seeing giant pangolins most around forest and savannah burrows and white-bellied pangolins in forests, commonly crossing dead fallen trees. Limited traditional or cultural uses of pangolins were reported, and most respondents were aware of threats to pangolins. Respondents showed great interest in pangolin conservation, suggesting various strategies for conservation activities, such as trade controls and provisioning of alternative sources of food. We show that working with local communities can provide useful information for pangolin conservation and management efforts within protected areas.

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African golden cats (Caracal aurata Temminck, 1827; hereafter, 'golden cat') occur in the forests and forest-savannah mosaics (hereafter, 'FSM') of West and Central Africa (Bahaa-el-din et al., 2015). Another medium-sized wild felid, the serval (Leptailurus [Caracal] serval Schreber, 1776), occurs in well-watered savannah and long-grass environments that are widespread across sub-Saharan Africa (Figure 1a; Thiel, 2019). Golden cats and servals are closely related felids (Johnson et al., 2006), deriving from a common ancestor approximately 5.4 million years ago (O'Brien & Johnson, 2007). They are known to be sympatric only within a small portion of their collective geographic range, including in the Central African Republic (Hickisch & Aebischer, 2013), in the FSM of the western Congo Basin (Henschel et al., 2014) and in Uganda (Mills et al., 2019). Within the forest zone of Cameroon, camera-trap surveys have provided evidence of the golden cat in Mpem et Djim National

Pangolin species are notoriously difficult to detect and monitor in the wild and, as a result, commonly used survey techniques fall short in gathering sufficient data to draw confident conclusions on pangolin populations, conservation status, and natural history. The white‐bellied pangolin is a semiarboreal species that may be poorly detected in general mammal surveys even with modern techniques such as camera‐trapping. As a result, population status information is often derived from hunting, market, and trafficking data. There is therefore a crucial need to improve camera‐trap survey methods to reliably detect this species in its natural environment. Here, we test the influence of camera‐trap placement strategy on the detectability of the white‐bellied pangolin by comparing estimates from targeted ground‐viewing camera‐trapping and a novel log‐viewing placement strategy adapted from local hunters' knowledge. Our results suggest that (1) deploying camera‐traps to detect animals walking along logs is an effective strategy for recording several forest species, including the white‐bellied pangolin, and (2) that camera‐traps targeting logs are more efficient at detecting white‐bellied pangolins than camera‐traps viewing the ground (>100% increase in detection probability). We also found moderate evidence that there is a relationship between the white‐bellied pangolin occurrence at our locality and elevation and weak evidence of an association with distance to the nearest river. Our results suggest an effective new monitoring approach allowing consistent detection of the white‐bellied pangolin with moderate survey effort. This highlights the importance of harnessing local knowledge to guide the design of monitoring protocols for cryptic species.

Pangolins have long been hunted for food and for their scales, but information on local hunting strategies in African range countries and the patterns of pangolin trafficking around sourcing areas is limited. Such knowledge is vital to inform monitoring approaches and conservation interventions. We administered questionnaires to 367 people from 20 villages around two national parks in Cameroon to gain insights into local hunting practices, and trading and trafficking patterns. We found that tracking was the preferred method of hunting pangolins. Trapping was also used, and setting traps on fallen logs and near burrows improved the likelihood of catching pangolins. The white-bellied pangolin Phataginus tricuspis was the most traded species, and the giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea was the most sought after. We found no evidence of trade in the black-bellied pangolin Phataginus tetradactyla. Most respondents stated that pangolin prices had increased over the last 5 years, and scarcity of pangolins was the primary reason given for this increase. We identified a pangolin scale trafficking network operating from rural communities to neighbouring cities. Although most respondents recognized that hunting pangolins is illegal, c. 30% indicated that they were engaged in pangolin hunting.

Information on pangolin life history and ecology is becoming increasingly available in African countries through community-based surveys and camera-trapping. However, there is a paucity of information on the largely arboreal black-bellied pangolin Phataginus tetradactyla, which is categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. By targeting fallen trees or logs with camera traps we recorded the black-bellied pangolin opportunistically in Deng Deng National Park (East Region, Cameroon), a locality within the presumed distribution of the species within Cameroon. We obtained a low trapping rate of 0.063 events per 100 trap-days and the capture probability was one event recorded over 1,571 trap-days (0.0006 captures per day). Deploying camera traps that focus on fallen trees or logs could be explored as a method for detecting black-bellied pangolins.