Title
Wildlife and Poaching Assessment in Northeast Gabon, Final Report
Author(s)
F. Maisels; P. deWachter; L. White
Published
2013
Abstract
A tidal wave of elephant poaching is currently sweeping across Africa. Recent work based on surveys across Central Africa has shown that 62% of the elephants of the forests of Central Africa were killed between 2002 and 2011, and that Gabon, which represents just 13% of Africa’s rain forests, today contains over half the surviving forest elephants (Maisels et al. 2013).
However, even in Gabon there are more and more reports of ivory poaching as world black market prices soar. As ANPN has become increasingly effective on the ground over the last three years, more and more poachers have been arrested and ivory seized.
In 2011 the Gabonese National Parks Agency (Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux / ANPN) and the Gabonese military moved just over 6,000 gold miners out of several illegal gold mining camps in Minkebe National Park and its buffer zone in north-east Gabon. These camps had grown exponentially in size over the previous 2-3 years in response to soaring gold prices as well as the high production of these mines, to the point where it represented a threat to national security. In addition to gold mining and trading it was noted that severe elephant poaching and other illegal activities such as arms and drugs trafficking were associated with these camps and encouraged by traders (Mike Fay and Richard Ruggiero, trip report).
In 2004, a survey of Minkebe National Park and its buffer zone, showed that it supported the most important forest elephant population in Africa, estimated at around 29,147 individuals (95% c.l. 21,070-40,522), of which 22,678 individuals (95% c.l. 16,882-30,531) were in the park itself (MIKE 2005).
Working with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), ANPN carried out a survey of Minkebe National Park and its buffer zone from October 2012 to March 2013. The objective was to assess wildlife abundance and human impact across the area and in particular to assess the impacts of the dramatic surge in elephant poaching over recent years.
Thirteen of the 14 planned pilot study transects in Minkebe were completed in the survey area, which comprised the entire Park, the 5km buffer zone, and almost the whole of the area between the Cameroon border and the park’s northern limit. Based on this data collection, there are likely about 6,875 elephants (95% c.l. 3,677-12,852) remaining. In 2004, highest elephant densities were in the centre and west of the area. The situation is now reversed; the north-western area previously holding most of the elephants has been systematically emptied. Now, the south-eastern section of the park and buffer zone is the most important for the remaining elephant population. In 2004 the north-east of the Park, on the border with Cameroon, held very few elephants. The situation is now far worse, with just a relatively small area of the inaccessible swamps in the northwest still containing a few more elephants than the rest of the north.
Comparing the same areas surveyed in 2004 and 2012, suggests that between 63-82% of the elephants have been killed: in other words, between 16,610 to 19,902 elephants have been lost since 2004, or about 2,100 elephants per year.
Apes (some of which were definitely gorillas) exist in the area surveyed, but at an exceedingly low density and half of the transects had no ape sign at all. Ungulate sign was rather few and far between, pointing either to the continuing effect of Ebola (as in the unhunted area of Mwagne National Park) and/or to heavy poaching pressure.
Human sign was recorded on or near all transects except one. Although many of the signs could have been made by eco-guards on patrol (machete cuts), there were 23 hunting camps, nine in the park itself, and some deep inside the park. Two heavy-duty rifle shots were heard on the eastern park border with Congo, and eleven elephant carcasses were found, six of which were either inside the park, or very near the park’s border. The others were north of the park near the Cameroon border.
Full Citation
Maisels, F., P. deWachter and L. White (2013). Wildlife and Poaching Assessment in Northeast Gabon, Final Report. Libreville, Gabon: Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux.
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