1Available information on the consumption of wild meat in West and Central Africa is reviewed. We show that mammals are the prime source of bushmeat, and that ungulates and rodents make up the highest proportion of biomass extracted.
2We present data on current knowledge of extraction patterns of wild mammals in West and Central Africa, and evidence that at current off-take levels, within the range states, mammals as bushmeat are being depleted on an unprecedented scale. Extraction rates are orders of magnitude higher there than in comparable ecosystems like the Amazon, and much less likely to be sustainable.
3However, basic knowledge of the biology of harvestable tropical moist forest mammals, and the consequences of hunting on mammalian communities, which permits accurate estimation of maximal production rate (the excess of growth over replacement rate), is largely unavailable, and this hinders estimation of hunting quotas and sustainability. Comparisons are made with the existing information available on Amazon basin mammals and hunting patterns reported there.

Impacts of hunting on mammals in African tropical moist forests: a review and synthesis

1. Densities of mammals in five sites in lowland semi-evergreen tropical rain forest in the Lope Reserve, central Gabon, were estimated using standard line-transect methods. Biomass was calculated using weights taken from the literature. 2. The total estimated biomass of diurnal primates, ruminants, pigs, elephants and squirrels in the five sites varied between 998 and 5866 kg km −2 . Forest elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis Matschie) dominated the biomass in all sites, making up 52-89% and primates accounted for 6-30%. 3. Statistically significant differences in density were detected for most species in at least two of the sites. Some of these differences could be related to vegetation structure and composition, but the reasons for others were unclear

Biomass of rain forest mammals in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon

The recent reintroduction of the gray wolf (Canis lupus) to Yellowstone signifies a constructive change, but the overall record in the United States on large carnivore conservation remains poor. Many developing countries are determined to do a better job of conserving predators, including their critical habitat and prey populations. We describe current efforts to protect tigers (Panther tigris), jaguars (Panthera onca), and large-scale forest habitat in Asia, Central America, and Africa. These initiatives take a comprehensive approach that includes biological field research, the identification of local human interests, and a growing recognition of the need for cooperation across political lines. Though often supported by U.S. technical assistance, this international experience could be used better to inform and improve carnivore conservation efforts in North America. Failure to improve our domestic performance or to fully appreciate the contributions of far less developed countries could weaken global efforts to maintain and restore populations of large carnivores.



La reciente reintroduccion del lobo en el Parque Nacional Yellowstone marca un cambio constructivo; sin embargo, el patron general de los Estados Unidos en conservacion de los grandes carnivores es pobre. La determinacion de muchos de Ios paises en desarrollo en la conservacion de los depredadores es mucho mas fuerte, incluyendo esfuerzos para la conservacion de habitat critico y poblaciones de presas. Se describen los esfuerzos que actualmente se estan haciendo para proteger tigres, jaguares y habitats boscosos de gran escala en Asia, America Central y Africa. Estas iniciativas tienen un enfoque amplio, que incluye investigaciones biologicas de campo, identificacion de intereses humanos locales, y el reconocimiento creciente de que se necesita cooperacion por encima de las lineas politicas. Aunque muchas veces apoyada por ayuda tecnica de los Estados Unidos, esta experiencia internacional puede ayudar a informar y mejorar la conservacion de los carnivoros en los Estados Unidos. Asi mismo, el no mejorar neustra situacion local, o el no apreciar las contribuciones de aquellas naciones menos desarrolladas, puede debilitar los esfuerzos globales para mantener y restaurar las poblaciones de grandes carnivoros.

A Global Perspective on Large Carnivore Conservation

Debate over repealing the ivory trade ban dominates conferences of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Resolving this controversy requires accurate estimates of elephant population trends and rates of illegal killing. Most African savannah elephant populations are well known; however, the status of forest elephants, perhaps a distinct species, in the vast Congo Basin is unclear. We assessed population status and incidence of poaching from line-transect and reconnaissance surveys conducted on foot in sites throughout the Congo Basin. Results indicate that the abundance and range of forest elephants are threatened from poaching that is most intense close to roads. The probability of elephant presence increased with distance to roads, whereas that of human signs declined. At all distances from roads, the probability of elephant occurrence was always higher inside, compared to outside, protected areas, whereas that of humans was always lower. Inside protected areas, forest elephant density was correlated with the size of remote forest core, but not with size of protected area. Forest elephants must be prioritised in elephant management planning at the continental scale.

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Forest Elephant Crisis in the Congo Basin

Sinking the Flagship: the Case of Forest Elephants in Asia and Africa

Summary

This paper describes the first ever survey of Zaire's forest elephants. Reconnaissance surveys were made of four large areas of forest, and information on other places was collected during discussions with people with long experience of the country. The vast forests of Zaire do not provide elephants with a safe refuge from poachers. Forest elephants have been dramatically affected by poaching for ivory. Once found throughout the forest zone, they have been eradicated from many areas and now occur in fragmented subpopulations. The remaining elephants may number only 64,000, having declined by as much as two-thirds. Even the remotest forests have been affected. The future of Zaire's forest elephants lies in a small number of well-protected national parks.



Resume

Cet article decrit la premiere recherche jamais effectuee sur l'elephant de foret du Zaire. Les recherches ont ete realisees dans quatre vastes regions forestieres et on a recolte des informations sur d'autres endroits grâce a des discussions avec des gens qui possedent une longue experience de la region. Les grandes forets du Zaire ne procurent pas aux elephants un abri sur contre les braconniers. Les elephants de foret ont ete gravement touches par le braconnage pour l'ivoire. Des qu'ils etaient decouverts quelque part dans la foret, ils en etaient extermines et il n'en reste plus que quelques populations fragmentaires. II se pourrait qu'il n'en reste plus que 64,000, c.a d. un tiers du nombre initial. Meme les parties les plus reculees de la foret ont ete touchees. L'avenir de l'elephant de foret zairois reside dans un petit nombre de pares nationaux bien proteges.

Preliminary assessment of the status of the forest elephant in Zaire

Reconnaissance surveys were made of the forests of four central African countries to establish, for the first time, the status of forest-dwelling elephants The results, when combined with information from previous surveys in other countries, provide a picture of the elephant situation in the forest zone, and especially the impact of poaching About one-third of the forest elephant population of central Africa is to be found in Zaire, and about one-third in Gabon The rest are in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo It is poaching for ivory, rather than the growth of human populations, which threatens the elephants of the equatorial forests

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T. Masunda

Papers

Preliminary assessment of the status of the forest elephant in Zaire

Elephants and ivory poaching in the forests of equatorial Africa