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There has been persistent decline in blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) population at Ngogo research site in the past 40 years for no clear reasons. In contrast, the populations of other nonhuman primates like the grey‐cheeked mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena) which share identical home ranges with blue monkeys have not been obviously affected. However, stakeholders attribute this decline to gastrointestinal parasitic diseases, hence the need to determine the profile of parasitic infections in blue monkeys and compare them to that of grey‐cheeked mangabeys within a shared home range. Faecal samples (n = 241) were subjected to diagnostic tests, namely sodium nitrate floatation and formol‐ether sedimentation before microscopic examination. 227 (94%) samples were parasite positive; six protozoa and 21 helminths were present. This implies that Ngogo hosts a high diversity of parasites which poses health risks to nonhuman primates. There was no significant statistical difference in the prevalence of the overall main pathogenic parasites between the two studied nonhuman primate species. Therefore, gastrointestinal parasites may not be the obvious cause of the proclaimed blue monkey population decline at Ngogo research site.

Assessing the population status of wildlife is useful for enhancing biodiversity management strategies in protected areas. This study was carried out within the framework of the Faro National Park (FNP) management plan. The objective was to provide baseline data on the status and population dynamics of the Buffon's kob (Kobus kob kob). The surveys were conducted in the month of June at the beginning of the rainy season. Data were collected along 145 line transects of 2.5 km apart and analysed using Distance 7.2 and Quantum GIS 3.4 software. The Buffon's kob population was estimated to comprise around 4,094 ± 1,303 individuals, with an overall density of 1.24 individuals/km². When compared to results from a study conducted in the year 2000, the concentration of Buffon's kob was higher in the northern part of the national park as opposed to the southern part, as was previously recorded. The population trend shows an extensive decline of approximately 80% compared to records of the year 2000. There was also a weak negative correlation between Buffon's kob density and human activities in the FNP.

Pangolins are considered among the most threatened mammal species, both globally and also in Africa. However, almost nothing is known on their status and distribution across wide areas of their range, particularly in West African countries. Here, we assess the status and distribution of pangolin species in Togo. Fieldwork was carried out in five localities around the Fazao Malfakassa National Park, five sites around the Togodo Protected Areas Complex (Togodo North and Togodo South National Parks), ‘Les Deux Bena’ and Missahohe Forest Reserves, Yikpa‐Dzigbe, Evou and Afagnan Community Forests. In all of these protected areas and forest islands, only one pangolin species was recorded: the white‐bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis); we found no evidence of the giant ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), a species that now appears unlikely for Togo. Due to their nocturnal behaviour, we searched for pangolins by spotlighting and estimated their relative abundance using the Kilometric Index of Abundance. Our results show that P. tricuspis is still relatively abundant in suitable habitats in Fazao‐Malfakassa National Park, in Togodo North National Park and in the Assoukoko Forest Reserve. These habitats are dense remnant forest patches where numerous termite mounds and ant nests occur. The present study provides unprecedented information on the status of pangolins in Togo to help inform the development of a conservation programme for this species in this country.

Chrea National Park, one of the 11 national parks in Algeria, is natural and diverse but under different pressures: urbanisation, fires caused by the high flux of visitors. Several ecological and systematic studies have been conducted on the Araneae, the most important epigeal fauna, but no attention was given to the anthropogenic parcels of the Park. To assess the effects of urbanisation and fires on the ecology of this fauna, spiders were collected monthly for 2 years, using 'Pitfall' traps in three disturbed stations: burned, urbanised and reforested and three natural sites as control. In total, 1,476 specimens were sampled (19 families, 42 genera and 68 species). Zodarion algericum was the dominant species (13.25%), particularly in the burned station. Mann-Whitney U test showed a significant difference between urbanised and nonurbanised sites in contrast to other ones and no significant differences with the control. Our results show that fires transform the forest into a mosaic of habitats, with open gaps of different stages of succession. In addition, the reforestation of cedars without any agricultural practices has no negative effects on the Park. No loss of biodiversity was observed; this would encourage the restoration of the forest to protect its fauna and flora.

[Otros] Les éléphants de forêt d'Afrique (Loxodonta cyclotis Matschie, 1900) sont des ingénieurs en écologie qui jouent un rôle fondamental dans la dynamique de la végétation. L'espèce constitue une préoccupation immédiate pour la conservation, mais elle est relativement peu étudiée. Pour combler cette lacune de connaissances, nous avons étudié les facteurs de déplacements quotidiens (déplacements linéaires) des éléphants de forêt ¿ caractérisés par un ensemble de variables géographiques, météorologiques et anthropiques ¿ dans le Parc National d'Odzala¿Kokoua, en République du Congo. Concrètement, nous avons utilisé la forêt d'arbres décisionnels pour modéliser et démêler les principaux facteurs environnementaux régissant les déplacements de six éléphants de forêt, équipés de colliers GPS et suivis pendant 16 mois. Les résultats ont montré que les femelles se déplaçaient plus loin que les mâles, tandis que la présence de routes ou d¿établissements humains perturbait le comportement des éléphants, ce qui accélérait les déplacements. Les éléphants de forêt se déplaçaient plus rapidement dans les cours d¿eau et dans les forêts dont le sous¿bois était dominé par les forêts de Marantaceae et les bais, mais se déplaçait plus lentement dans les savanes. Enfin, les zones inondables ¿ characterisées par l¿altitude et les précipitations accumulées ¿ et les températures plus élevées empêchaient des déplacements plus longs. Nous espérons que ces résultats amélioreront les connaissances sur les mouvements des espèces à travers différents habitats, ce qui serait bénéfique pour la gestion de leur conservation., [EN] African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis Matschie, 1900) are ecological engineers that play a fundamental role in vegetation dynamics. The species is of immediate conservation concern, yet it is relatively understudied. To narrow this knowledge gap, we studied the drivers of daily movement patterns (linear displacements) of forest elephants¿characterised by a set of geographical, meteorological and anthropogenic variables¿in the Odzala¿Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo. Explicitly, we used conditional random forest to model and disentangle the main environmental factors governing the displacements of six forest elephants,fitted with GPS collars and tracked over 16 months. Results indicated that females moved further distances than males, while the presence of roads or human settlements disrupted elephant behaviour resulting in faster displacements. Forest elephants moved faster along watercourses and through forest with understory dominated by Marantaceae forests and bais, but moved slower in savannahs. Finally, flood¿prone areas¿described by elevation and accumulated precipitation¿and higher temperatures prevented longer displacements. We expect these results to improve the knowledge on the species movements through different habitats, which would benefit its conservation management., The fieldwork was financed by African Parks. We are grateful to the Congolese wildlife authorities (Ministère de l'Économie Forestière et de l'Environnement) for the permission to carry out this study, and we are deeply indebted to the director of the OKNP and to the conservation, wildlife monitoring and research manager, Erik Marav, respectively, for their continued support during our study. We are particularly grateful to Dr. Mike Kock, veterinarian, for collaring the elephants and to the field tracking team. We are also grateful to Séan Cahill for the useful comments and English correction that helped improve this manuscript. The authors of the present study certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organisation or entity with any financial or nonfinancial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

The oribi (Bovidae: Antilopinae: Ourebiini: Ourebia ourebi [Zimmermann, 1783 ]) is a small antelope distributed widely across open woody grasslands of sub‐Saharan Africa (Goldspink, Holland, Sweet, & Stewart, 2002 ), especially in hilly open‐broadleaf savanna and primarily feeds on herbaceous vegetation (Monfort & Monfort, 1974 ). The species lives singly or in small groups with multiple males, yet long‐term pairing is frequently low (Adamczak & Dunbar, 2008 ; Arcese, 1994 ; Arcese, Jongejan, & Sinclair, 1995 ; Jongejan, Arcese, & Sinclair, 1991 ). Oribi are readily identifiable with a tan coat and whitish underbelly, large ears, a conspicuous black‐coloured preorbital glandular spot below the ear, long neck and long legs (Foley et al., 2014 ; Kingdon et al., 2013 ). Up to 13 subspecies have been described with one subspecies found in Serengeti National Park: O. ourebi cottoni .

We carried out a postrelease evaluation to determine predictors of habitat use and carrying capacity for the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli), which are critical for monitoring how the Ruma National Park sub‐population may contribute to Kenya's meta‐population strategy. We determined whether level of elevation, rockiness, shade, distance to fence, roads, and human settlements predict habitat use, differences in habitat and diet preference between female and male black rhinoceros, and the ecological carrying capacity (CC) of black rhinoceros in the park. We used standard ecological methods to collect data on predictors of habitat use, habitat preference and to estimate CC. Results show, first, that none of the environmental and anthropogenic factors evaluated predicted habitat use by black rhinoceros in the park. Second, although there was no significant difference in habitat preference between the sexes (U = 16.50, p = 0.306), there was a 60% difference in Jaccard's dissimilarity in diet selection between the sexes. Third, the park can support 65 black rhinoceros. Altogether, the findings suggest that the park has potential to support other sub‐populations in Kenya. We recommend that future similar studies should incorporate population viability analysis and a community‐based approach to forecast the species health and extinction risk.

Conservation of National Parks depends on accurate measurements of biodiversity, and therefore keeping an accurate list of species is key to determining biodiversity loss or gain in an ecosystem. This study confirms the presence of two disputed species in NNP, Suni and Rusty-spotted genet. Suni are currently believed to be extant only in the south of Malawi, however, the habitat of NNP is consistent with their current range as they are known to inhabit montane forest up to 2700m (IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group, 2016). To date Suni have not been recorded in Zambia, which borders NNP, therefore further research may potentially confirm their presence there. Rusty-spotted genets are widely distributed across sub-Saharan Africa so their occurrence in NNP is not unexpected

Primates play important roles in tropical forests through seed dispersal and herbivory. They comprise a large part of the biomass of forest communities and tend to have clumped patterns of defecations (i.e. at favoured food trees or sleeping sites). Therefore, they may also play important roles in accelerating ecosystem nutrient cycling. Here we conduct a controlled growth experiment to quantify the effect of the addition of primate dung on the growth of both light‐demanding and shade‐tolerant seedlings over 1 year in Kibale National Park, Uganda. A mixed model analysis revealed that light‐demanding species were affected by the natural dung treatment and plants with small initial size had accelerated growth, whereas there was no effect on plant growth for shade‐tolerant species. The long‐term implications of increased dung deposition on the local tree community are unclear as shade‐tolerant species may only show an effect over the long‐term and light‐demanding species may only be able to take advantage of the increased growth if subsequently exposed to high light conditions, such as a treefall gap.

First paragraph: In light of recent publications (e.g. Lam et al., 2020; Shang et al., 2020) that indicate a link between pangolin and bat coronaviruses related to SARS‐CoV‐2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), we believe that recent observations of pangolins and bats sharing burrows in Lopé, Central Gabon, is of general interest. Our observations were made during an ecological and spatial movement study of the giant pangolin, Smutsia gigantea .

As the human footprint expands worldwide, people and wildlife are coming into greater contact, and areas of human activity may be simultaneously associated with risk and reward for animals. To avoid human threats while exploiting opportunities, animals may adjust their spatiotemporal activity, using areas of anthropogenic disturbance at night when people are less active. We combined four camera trap datasets from Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park to evaluate the effects of roads and settlement on diel activity patterns of elephants (Loxodonta africana). We found high rates of elephant activity along the boundary of the park, where elephants can access cultivated crops, and along roads, which serve as movement corridors. However, elephants restricted their activity to the night and crepuscular periods in these areas of human disturbance, seeking refuge in the interior of the park away from roads and settlements during the day. Our findings suggest that a history of killing and antagonism has instilled a fear of humans in this elephant population, with implications for research, tourism and human–elephant coexistence. Our study highlights the utility of camera traps in monitoring human–wildlife conflict and habituation and demonstrates the value of integrating disparate camera trap datasets for comparative analyses on landscape or even continental scales.

Understanding the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on biodiversity is important for conservation prioritization. This study examined the effects of vegetation degradation on bird diversity in Abiata‐Shalla Lakes National Park, Ethiopia. We surveyed birds and vegetation structure between January and March 2015 in disturbed (impacted by settlement and agriculture) and undisturbed (not impacted) transects of two vegetation types (savannah woodland and gallery forest). We compared between disturbed and undisturbed transects at local (within vegetation types) and landscape (across vegetation types) levels: (a) avian species richness of the entire assemblage and feeding guilds and (b) species assemblage composition. We found significantly greater mean and total bird species richness of the entire assemblage and insectivore and granivore feeding guilds in the undisturbed transects, while the nectarivore guild was totally absent in the disturbed transects. We also found significant differences in bird species assemblage composition between the disturbed and undisturbed transects both within and across the vegetation types, and bird species assemblage composition at the landscape level was positively correlated with tree abundance and understorey vegetation height. In conclusion, our results demonstrate and add to the increasing body of evidence concerning the adverse effects of human‐induced vegetation change on bird diversity.

Human–elephant conflict is a common conservation problem throughout Africa, but poorly studied where forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) occur. Here, we investigated people's perceptions towards the impact of elephants around Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, northern Congo. We aimed to understand the perceptual differences amongst residents of four villages that varied substantially in the degree of conservation benefits received. We used a multivariate analysis to investigate how socio-economic variables, such as employment, wealth, education and ethnicity, influenced perceptions. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, we found that the majority of respondents experienced elephant impacts, mainly through crop raiding. Residents of the village where the local conservation project is based had significantly more positive perceptions of elephants, whereas perceptions of farmers were mostly negative. We identified some misunderstandings regarding the responsibilities of elephant impact mitigation regarding benefit sharing, stakeholder involvement and lawbreaking, but also willingness to apply mitigation measures. To mitigate the prevalent impact of elephants, a comprehensive approach of measuring impact, exploring community-based mitigating strategies and understanding of the root causes of the conflict is crucial. We propose a long-term programme within logging concessions organizing groups of farmers to cooperate on mitigation techniques and explore alternative incomes.

Understanding the influence of environmental conditions and people on ungulate density and distribution is of key importance for conservation. We evaluated the effects of ecological and anthropogenic factors on the density of migratory wildebeest and zebra and resident oribi in Zambia's Liuwa Plain National Park where human settlements were present. We conducted transect surveys from 2010 to 2013 using distance sampling methods and then developed a set of 38 candidate models to describe results and predict density. Models included the effects of variables in three classes: environmental (year, season, vegetation, predominant grass height, burn, water presence), predation risk (hyaena density) and anthropogenic (distance to park boundary and settlements). Densities ranged from 6.2 to 60.8 individuals km−2 for wildebeest, 1.1 to 14.5 individuals km−2 for oribi and 1.8 to 8.1 individuals km−2 for zebra. The most complex models were strongly supported for all three species. The magnitude and sign of variable effects differed among species, indicating that local densities of wildebeest, oribi and zebra are affected by a complex set of anthropogenic and ecological factors. Results reveal resource partitioning among ungulate species and indicate that predation risk and proximity to humans affect ungulate distributions with implications for managing migrations in the Greater Liuwa Ecosystem.

Diplopods (millipedes) are one of the important groups of terrestrial Arthropoda in tropical forest ecosystems. Despite their ecological importance, data on millipede populations are still scarce and outdated in Cameroon. The first comparative eco-faunistic analysis is presented of two local populations of Diplopoda in two lowland rainforests (nearly primary and secondary) during 12 months (2015–2016) at the southern periphery of the Campo Ma'an National Park in southern Cameroon. The millipedes were collected using pitfall trapping and quadrat sampling, their diversity and distribution analyzed with the help of two diversity indexes and two nonparametric estimators. Overall, 27 species in eighteen genera, ten families and four orders were revealed in the two forests, yet each faunule was about equally rich (23 and 22 species in the primary and secondary forest, respectively) and peculiar (five and four species unique, respectively). The Odontopygidae was the most abundant family, which made up to 33% of the total species diversity. The most abundant species in both forests was Aporodesmus gabonicus (26.8% of occurrences). This study shows that despite the similarity in millipede species richness between both habitats, the species composition of all habitats was different. Some species occurred in two habitats whilst others were restricted to only one habitat.

Understanding herbivore selection and utilization of vegetation types is fundamental to conservation of multispecies communities. We tested three hypotheses for how ungulate species select their habitats and how this changes with season: first, resources are distributed as a mosaic of patches so that ungulates are also distributed patchily; this distribution reflects habitat selection, which changes with season, the different ungulates behaving differently. Second, resources become scarcer in the dry season relative to those in the wet season. If interspecific competition prevails, then all species should show a contraction of habitats chosen. Third, if predation is limiting, competition will be minimal, and hence, habitat selection by herbivores will not differ between seasons. We used frequencies of occurrence in four common vegetation types in western Serengeti National Park to determine selection coefficients and utilization patterns and Chi-square analysis to test the hypotheses. The results showed that selection changes differently in each species, agreeing with the first hypothesis. Herbivores did not all become more selective, as predicted by the competition hypothesis, nor did selection remain the same across seasons, as predicted by the predation hypothesis. These results can be useful in constructing habitat suitability maps for ungulate species with special conservation needs.

Understanding the factors affecting a species’ population size is crucial for conservation initiatives. Hyraxes are small, gregarious animals, predominantly found on kopjes (rock outcrops) and thus form metapopulation communities. In Tanzania, two species of hyraxes inhabit Serengeti National Park, the rock hyrax Procavia capensis johnstoni and bush hyrax Heterohyrax brucei. This study focuses on the factors that affect hyrax population size, including factors such as human presence, habitat type, kopje size and kopje height. We found that larger and taller kopjes tended to have more hyraxes than smaller ones, while kopjes in wooded grassland had more hyraxes than kopjes in grassland. Human presence often affects species negatively, but in the case of hyraxes, we found that kopjes with human presence had larger populations than kopjes without humans. We discuss possible explanations for this and suggest that human presence is related to fewer predators and higher food availability.