Inventorying medium- and large-sized mammals in the African lowland rainforest using camera trapping

Abstract

I compiled a list of mediumand large-sized mammals (excluding Rodentia) in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, Gabon. Additionally, I evaluated the efficiency of camera trapping for inventorying these animals. I placed 125 camera traps (set to “video mode”) in forest and savannah in the eastern regions of the park, and compared my data with visual and acoustic observational records from the study area since 1999. I confirmed the occurrence of 38 species (11 Primates, 13 Carnivora, nine Ungulates, and five other taxa). During 4165 camera-days, my camera traps detected 29 out of the 38 species (76 %), including 10 newly-recorded species in the study area. However, a high proportion of cameras (40 %) in savannah were destroyed by Loxodonta africana. Furthermore, using this technique, it was difficult to detect arboreal species. It was also difficult to discriminate morphologically similar species (Cephalophus spp., Phataginus spp., and Galago spp.) from the captured images. These species can be more appropriately detected by visual sighting, acoustic hearing, and molecular techniques, suggesting that a combination of these techniques may increase the inventory efficiency. The number of forest-dwelling herbivores was lower in Moukalaba than in four other sites at or near Gabon, possibly because of separation from large Pleistocene refuges by a natural boundary. Nevertheless, Moukalaba harbors two savannah-dwellers─Kobus ellipsiprymnus and Herpestes ichneumon─which inhabit only a few protected areas of Gabon. The forest is invading the savannah, and therefore there is a requirement for regular burning, which must be enforced to preserve the totality of the existing biodiversity.