Journal of
Ecology and The Natural Environment

  • Abbreviation: J. Ecol. Nat. Environ.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2006-9847
  • DOI: 10.5897/JENE
  • Start Year: 2009
  • Published Articles: 408

Article in Press

Abundance and Distribution of Pangolins (Manis spp.) in the Kimbi-Fungom National Park, North West Region, Cameroon

TSI Evaristus ANGWAFO, NGONG Kenneth KAIMO, MVO Denis CHUO and WOYU Hans BERINYUY

  •  Received: 12 March 2019
  •  Accepted: 12 March 2019
This study was carried out in the rainy season from 10th of July to the 10th of October 2017. The general objective was to contribute to the conservation of Pangolins by establishing baseline data for their remaining stronghold habitats which will serve as a guide for management decisions in the Kimbi-Fungom National Park (K-FNP). The methodology employed for data collection was “recce walk for collecting bio-indicators. A total effort of 22.5 km was walked. Results identified three species of pangolins; Phataginus tetradactyla, Smutsia gigantea and Phataginus tricuspis (through sighting, carcass, and scales) to be still in existence in the K-FNP. The encounter rate (ER) of pangolins gave 0.97 sign per km with the highest number of signs observed in the Northern regions of the Park. The mean ER of anthropogenic activities gave 1.1 sign per km with hunting as the most preponderant with an E.R of 1.87 sign per km (58.33%, n=42), grazing, 0.75 sign per km (23.61%, n=17) and agriculture, 0.58 sign per km (18.05%, n=13). Encounter Rate of anthropogenic activities plotted against those of pangolin gave a coefficient of determination (R2) =0.096 indicating that 9.6% of pangolin distribution was accounted for by human activities. Therefore an urgent action plan to curb the illegal hunting of pangolins was needed to opens ways for conservation priority of this species in the K-FNP.

Keywords: Anthropogenic activities, Bio-indicator, Conservation, Encounter rate, Pangolin, Status