Moukalaba-Doudau

 

Full Name of Site

 

La Réserve du Faune de la Moukalaba-Dougoua

 

Country

 

Nyanga province, Gabon, Africa

 

Location of base camp

2° 30’S, 10° 30’E
 

Status

Faunal Reserve (will be National Park around November 2001)
 

Area- study area

Study area: 40 square km, Reserve: 80.000 ha
 

Study Period

1999~
 

Focus of Project

Research
 

Altitude

100 m to 700 m
 

Rainfall

No data available (about 1600 – 1800 mm in nearest town)
 

Research Presence

occasional until 2000, permanent since 2001
 

Habituation

fair
 

Types of questions?

diet, ranging, group structure, social behavior, etc.
 

Conservation Projects?

Conservation program is managed by WWF Gabon Program. Eco-tourism is going to be conducted.
 

Species studied in addition to WLGs

chimpanzee, Cercopithecus nictitans, C. pogonias, C. cephus, Miopithecus talapoin, Cercocebus torquatus, Lophocebus albigena, Mandrillus sphinx, forest elephant.
 

Distance to closest village in km

4 – 20 km from main study area
 

Types of vegetation present at Site

savanna present
gallery forest present
previously logged secondary forest present
streambed present
open understory forest (Primary) present
monodominant (Gilbertiodendron) absent
Light gaps present
Marantaceae forest absent
Swamp Forest present
Bais absent
 

Mammalian community

chimpanzees a few times a week
elephants a few times a week
buffalo daily in the savanna region, rarely in the forest
monkeys
Miopithecus talapoin daily
Lophocebus albigena daily
Cercopithecus cephus daily
Cercopithecus nictitans daily
Cercopithecus pogonias daily
Colobus satanus rarely
Mandrillus sphinx rarely
Cercocebus torquatus daily
red river hog daily
giant forest hog
 

Human Influence

selective logging present until 1980s
hunting (snares. Traces, shots fired) cartridges found monthly, Shots never heard
gorillas a target? gorillas are not a target of hunting
agriculture- distance to nearest field <5km
tourism none (it is being prepared by WWF)
 

predators

Panthera perdus
 

Methods Used

Indirect evidence (trail, feces) trail, feces, nest, feeding trace
Nest to nest tracking not conducted
Direct behavioral sampling conducted
focal subject sampling not possible at moment
 

Contact Information

 

Yuji Takenoshita

 

Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University

 

606-8502 Japan

 

tel. +81-75-753-4085; fax. +81-75-753-4115

 

email: takechan@jinrui.zool.kyoto-u.ac.jp

 

Bibliography

no publication by Kyoto Univ. Team yet
Walsh, PD, White, LJT, Mbina, C, Idiata, D, Mihindou, Y, Maisels, F, and Tibault, M. (2001). Estimates of forest elephant abundance: projecting the relationship between precision and effort. Journal of Applied Ecology 38:217-228.
Walsh, PD and White, LJT. (1999). What it will take to monitor forest elephant populations. Conservation Biology 13(5):1194-1202.