Conserving the forgotten: New insights from a Central African biodiversity hotspot on the anthropogenic perception of nocturnal primates (Mammalia: Strepsirrhini)

Population Abundance and Density Estimates of Poorly Documented Near-Threatened Calabar Angwantibo (Arctocebus calabarensis) in Oban Hills Region

“…Our findings corroborate [23] that the populations A. calabarensis can adapt to low changes in forest habitat modifications resulting from increasing and widespread forest disturbance by human-dominated activity, which is giving way to forest clearance for agriculture cultivation and infrastructural development as well as the recent appearance in bushmeat reports [15,23,37,57]. Furthermore, Nigeria has witnessed human population growth and economic development intensification, leading to an estimated loss of 59.4% forest cover between 1990 and 2015 and causing wildlife population decline from habitat loss and increasing hunting pressure on wildlife (small nocturnal primates), including Calabar angwantibo [15,19,20,37,[57][58][59][60][61][62].…”

“…This study's encounter rate of 0.5 km 2 recorded is lower than the estimated encountered rate of 0.7 km 2 reported in the same region of southeastern Nigeria [5,24]. However, the population encounter rate obtained in this study, 0.53 km 2 , is higher than the 0.16 km 2 individual in southwest Cameroon and sporadic detection reported in four locations west of River Cross, southern Nigeria [5,[35][36][37]. This disparity may be due to a systematic survey of the Calabar angwantibo population in the current study, unlike the previously published studies where the species is the least recorded among nocturnal primate surveys estimate density and casual observation.…”

“…In light of the vulnerable conservation status of the angwantibos and the current lack of information, threats of habitat loss, and hunting for bushmeat trade of this highly cryptic nocturnal primate, it is critical that surveys are undertaken to ascertain the population density of Calabar angwantibos [19]. Until now, the few published studies that have provided information on distribution and frequency of observation were systematically conducted outside the current sites and mainly based on short-term surveys where other nocturnal primates were particularly abundant [5,23,30,[34][35][36][37]. These studies have no indications of how common or rare the animals are.…”

Opinions, attitudes and perceptions of local people towards the conservation of Nigeria‐Cameroon chimpanzees in Mpem‐Djim National Park, central Cameroon

“…Such data have been missing for the chimpanzee conservation initiative in Mpem and Djim National Park and we collected corresponding site‐specific information that will be used in targeted conservation planning. As in many other parts of Cameroon, farming is the main source of income for people living in villages close to the national park (Fominka et al., 2021; Kamgang et al., 2021). In general, the people we interviewed had good LEK about chimpanzees and expressed a positive attitude towards their conservation.…”

Local perceptions, hunting and export of the Endangered Goliath frog Conraua goliath in Cameroon

“…Wild meat is either a source of revenue or is directly consumed by households (Loibooki et al, 2002; Kouassi et al, 2019). Vertebrate taxa used as wild meat include mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians (Fa et al, 2000, 2006; Gonwouo & Rödel, 2008; Wright & Priston, 2010; Fominka et al, 2021). Amphibian consumption occurs in several places in West and Central Africa (Gonwouo & Rödel, 2008; Mohneke et al, 2009, 2010, 2011; Onadeko et al, 2011; Rödel et al, 2021).…”