Impact of Hunting on Primates and their Conservation in the Mont Kupe Region, South-West and Littoral Cameroon

Abstract

Currently, harvesting wild meat drastically reduces animal populations in the humid forests of Central and West Africa. This exploitation, magnified by the use of firearms, endangers the persistence of primates in certain forest areas. This study examines the impact of hunting on primates and the current status of these in the Mount Kupé area; which straddles between the Southwest and the Littoral Cameroon. The study area was subdivided into three zones (East, West and North) separated by geographical position and ethnicity. Fifty-six structured interviews were conducted with hunters in six villages distributed in pairs in the three zones. A total effort of 35.7 km was made in the different areas following routes adjacent to the villages to search for direct signs of diurnal primates and simultaneously hunting signs. The results obtained show that the use of the firearm is the most widespread hunting technique intended for self-consumption as well as for sale. The proximity of the East Zone with a road network significantly favors the decrease in the cost of a firearm and the increase in sales prices for large and medium-sized primate species. The hunting encounter rate was higher in the eastern zone compared to the western and northern zones (8.07 characters / km versus 6.66 signs / km and 5.36 signs / km, respectively). Ten primate species (6 diurnal and 4 nocturnal) have been recorded in the Kupé area. Relative abundance was generally low and polyspecific groups exhibiting high sensitivity to human presence (cercopithecus, particularly Cercopithecus nictitans, C. mona and to a lesser extent C. erythrotis) were more tolerant to hunting pressure than other diurnal primates. Thus, the number of primate encounters tends to decrease when the number of hunting signs is increasing. Although some taboos protect Galagos and Pan troglodytes, hunting seriously affects other primate species in the Kupé area. Nevertheless, the persistence of the primate community in Kupé will depend on the implementation of measures to make the absence of hunting effective, particularly with firearms.