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Henschel, P.; Kiki, M.; Sewade, C.; Tehou, A.
Improving the status of lions and cheetahs in their last stronghold in West Africa: the W-Arly-Pendjari Complex
2012  Full Book

The W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) Complex of protected areas is the largest protected ecosystem in West Africa, with >27,000 km2. It harbors some of the last important populations of larger mammals in West Africa, and among those are two species of big cats which are highly threatened in this region; the lion Panthera leo, and the Northwest African cheetah Acinonyx jubatus hecki. Despite their rarity and threatened status in West Africa, no concerted efforts have so far been undertaken to assess and improve their current status within the WAP Complex. The main reason why large carnivore status has never been comprehensively assessed within the WAP Complex, is the difficulty to survey large carnivores reliably. They naturally occur at low densities and are difficult to detect using commonly used large mammal survey techniques. Opportunely, most large carnivore species exhibit extensive movements along man-made roads, and recent studies comparing the effectiveness of large carnivore survey techniques identified the use of spoor transects along dirt roads as the most appropriate method in terms of detection efficiency, effort, and cost. Further studies, comparing large carnivore population densities with track-based abundance indices derived from spoor transects, established strong linear relationships between track encounter frequencies and actual densities. Spoor transects can therefore be used as a robust and cost-effective approach to predict large carnivore densities. It was the goal of the present study to scientifically assess the distribution and numbers of lions and cheetahs within the WAP Complex, and to investigate the factors that currently limit them. A field survey was conducted in the WAP Complex between March 19 and April 22, 2012. In total, 75 15-km spoor transects were completed along the Complex' dirt road network, with 37 transects located in the Arly-Pendjari block and 38 in the W block, resulting in a total survey effort of 1110 km (552 km in Arly-Pendjari and 558 in W). Track encounter rates and large carnivore species diversity were significantly higher in the Arly-Pendjari block. Track frequencies were highest for spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta, with 144 observations of tracks, followed by lions (64 observations), cheetah (2) and leopard (1). No proof could be substantiated for the continued presence of African wild dogs Lycaon pictus in the Complex. Only for lions and spotted hyaenas did the spoor transects deliver sufficient numbers of track observations to use the equation developed by Funston et al. (2010), to calculate population densities based on spoor frequencies. For lions, densities varied between different parts of the Complex, with the highest density of 3.9 (ñ 1.4) lions / 100 km2 recorded in proximity of permanent rivers within the national parks of the Arly-Pendjari block, and the lowest density with 0.4 (ñ 0.3) lions / 100 km 2 in drier parts of the W block. The total number of lions in the WAP Complex was estimated at 311 (ñ 188) individuals, with 148 (ñ 87) occurring in Benin, 147 (ñ 88) in Burkina Faso, and 15 (ñ 12) in Niger. For spotted hyaenas, densities varied between the Arly Pendjari and the W block, with 3.7 (ñ 1.2) hyaenas / 100 km2 in the Arly-Pendjari block, and 1.3 (ñ 0.7) hyaenas / 100 km2 in the W block. The total number of hyaenas in the Complex was estimated at 686 (ñ 260) individuals, with 523 (ñ 165) occurring in the Arly-Pendjari block, and 162 (ñ 95) in the W block. The use of spoor transects proved appropriate to establish the distribution and population size of lions and spotted hyaenas. Given the relatively low cost of the survey, with USD 38,500 covering all expenses, we recommend repeating the survey biennially using the same survey protocol, to monitor changes in large carnivore distribution and numbers within the Complex. Concerning cheetahs and leopards, the survey established their continued presence in the Complex, but both species appear to be rare and not very widespread. Considering the regional importance of the Complex particularly for cheetahs, it would be recommended to explore other survey methods better suited for low-density populations to monitor this population. Such surveys could potentially also detect wild dogs, which were not recorded during the current survey, suggesting the possibility of their local extinction within the WAP Complex. Overall, the survey results underpin the extreme importance of the WAP Complex for large carnivore conservation in West Africa.

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