Fisheries in the Southern Border Zone of Takamanda - Impact ...

Large Mammals of Takamanda Forest Reserve, Cameroon
1 Introduction
Jacqueline L. Sunderland-Groves and Fiona Maisels
Until recently, information regarding the fauna of
Takamanda Forest Reserve (TFR) was, at best,
fragmentary (Allen 1930, Sanderson 1940, Struhsaker
1967, Critchley 1968). No survey had been carried out in
the Takamanda area since 1987 (Thomas 1988). Due to
the lack of available information, Sanderson’s specimen
collections from areas surrounding Takamanda, housed
in the British Museum of Natural History, provided the
basis for a faunal checklist (Appendix 1). Fifty years
later, Thomas (1988) confirmed the continued existence
of 11 species of large mammals in the area reported by
Sanderson. Before the start of the 1998 survey, the
Sanderson 1934 collection, consisting of all dry skin
specimens except ungulates and bats, was examined and
verified (Dowsett 1997).
The major objectives of the 1998 study were to
assess the current status of and threats to the population
of the Critically Endangered (IUCN 2002) Cross River
Gorilla Gorilla gorilla diehli. In addition, status of and
threats to other large mammals in the Reserve were
investigated: several large mammal species or subspecies
were known to be endemic to the region, including
chimpanzee Pan troglodytes vellerosus, drill Mandrillus
leucophaeus, Preuss’s guenon Cercopithecus preussi,
and red eared guenon Cercopithecus erythrotis.
In the forests of Central and West Africa, hunting for
meat is of increasing concern and is the major cause of
ape decline (Walsh et al. 2003) and of other large
mammal decline in general (Fa et al. 2002). Hunting is
facilitated by increased access made possible by the
construction of logging roads (Minnemeyer et al. 2002,
Wilkie et al. 2000). In the Bamenda Highlands just east
of the Takamanda area, most species of large mammals
have been locally extirpated within the last century
(Maisels et al. 2001).
A commercial road is currently being built in the
Takamanda area between the towns of Mamfe and
Akwaya (Sunderland-Groves et al. this volume). When
complete, the road will cut directly between the
Takamanda forest and the Mone and Mbulu forests,
allowing ready access to the forests and, subsequently,
increased export of agricultural and forest products,
including bushmeat.
Although development projects such as roads are
important for the local human population, increased
accessibility to the area will undoubtedly affect the future
survival of wildlife populations unless strict measures are
taken to protect the animals. Following the 1998 survey,
emphasis was placed on working with local communities
and the Cameroon Ministry of Environment and Forestry
(MINEF) to protect wildlife populations. Education
materials were disseminated to increase conservation
awareness and promote Cameroon’s laws concerning
illegal hunting of protected species.
2 Methods
2.1 Field methods
Chapter 8
In Takamanda Forest Reserve, two primary vegetation
strata—lowland forest, including riverine forest, and submontane
forest, encompassing ridge or “highland”
forest—were identified and surveyed, using the stratified
random sampling technique. Within these strata, two
lowland sites were sampled: Oyi on the edge of the
Reserve and Makone in the center of the Reserve.
Variation in sites was meant to reflect predicted
differences in hunting pressure, where we presumed
areas on the edge of the reserve would be subject to more
SI/MAB Series #8, 2003, Pages 111 to 127