Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS)

Full Name of Site	Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS)
Country	Nigeria, Cross River State, Africa

Location of base camp	6° 15.5’-6° 24.5’ to 8° 54’-9° 00’ East
Status	Wildlife Sanctuary (Protected)
Area- study area	Study Site 35 km²; AWMS 85 km²
Study Period	1996, 1997 (Nov) – present
Focus of Project	Research, Conservation
Altitude	200 – 1,300m
Rainfall	Mean 3,528 mm; Range 3,422 – 3,652 mm; Years covered: 1998 – 2000
Research Presence	Permanent
Habituation	None
Types of questions?	Diet, ranging, censusing, demography, genetics, phenology & density of plants
Conservation Projects?	A partnership consisting of the Cross River State Forestry Commission (CRSFC), Dr. John Oates (WCS), Jamison Suter (FFI), Pandrillus (local NGO), Nigerian Conservation Federation, and Kelley McFarland are involved in the following: legal gazettement of AWMS, boundary clearing, ranger program (patrols, training), awareness program (meetings between CRSFC & local villages), education, gorilla monitoring, and providing funding and equipment for these activities.
Species studied in addition to WLGs	Presently none, but in future chimpanzees, drills
Distance to closest village in km	< 4 km
Types of vegetation present at Site
savanna	absent
gallery forest	50%
previously logged secondary forest	absent
streambed	present
open understory forest (Primary)	25%
monodominant (Gilbertiodendron)	absent
Light gaps	25%
Marantaceae forest	present
Swamp Forest	absent
Bais	absent
Rocky Outcrops	present
Mammalian community
chimpanzees	occasional, daily in areas not frequently used by gorillas
elephants	absent
buffalo	rare; present only in lowland forest reserve
monkeys
C. mona	monthly
C. ascanius	occasional
Cercopithecus nictitans	monthly, weekly
Mandrillus leucophaeus	monthly
red river hog	present
giant forest hog	absent
Brush-tailed Porcupine	weekly, daily; present Atherurus africanus
Giant Forest Squirrel	occasional; present Protoxerus stangeri
Other Squirrels	occasional
Palm Civet	rare
Human Influence
selective logging	absent
hunting (snares. Traces, shots fired)	Snares- Daily, weekly; 618 total during 18 months (1997-1999)
	Used Shotgun Shells (varying ages)-Daily, weekly; 267 total
	Gunshots Heard- Daily, weekly, monthly; 91 total
	Hunters Seen within study site-Weekly, Monthly; 47 total
	Hunter Activity (camps, trails, etc.)-Weekly, Monthly; 88 total

gorillas a target?	Not currently (because of recent conservation efforts). In the past, several more experienced hunters did target gorillas; however, most hunters killed gorillas when they happened to encounter them.
agriculture- distance to nearest field	Approximate distance to nearest agricultural field:
	1-2 km from Study Site, < 1 km from AMWS
tourism	None
predators	Homo sapiens
Methods Used
Indirect evidence (trail, feces)	yes
Nest to nest tracking	yes; between dec. 1997- nov. 1998 searches were conducted approximately 23-27 days/month. 1999-2000 searches were conducted during 2-3 weeks/month and in 2001 to present 3-4 weeks/month.
Direct behavioral sampling	no
focal subject sampling	no

Contact Information	Kelley McFarland, afigorilla@netzero.net;
	Dr. John Oates, john.oates@hunter.cuny.edu

Bibliography	Oates, J.F., McFarland, K.L. Bergl, R.A., Linder, J.M., T.R. Disotell, & J.L. Groves. In press. The Cross River Gorilla: The natural history and status of a neglected and critically endangered subspecies. A.B. Taylor & M.L. Goldsmith (eds.), Gorilla Biology: A Multidisciplinary Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

	Sarmiento, E.E. & J.F. Oates. 2000. The Cross River gorillas: A distinct subspecies, Gorilla gorilla diehli Matschie 1904. American Museum Novitates 3304: 1-55.

	Harcourt, A.H.; Stewart, K.J.; Inahoro, I.M. 1989. Gorilla quest in Nigeria. ORYX 23(1): 7-13.