Gertruide Dalila Massoh
Other projects
12 Jun 2023
Distribution, Habitat Use and Population Status of African Wild Dog in the Tchabal Mbabo Mountain Range, Adamawa Region, Cameroon
The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) is one of the world's most endangered large carnivores due to multiple threats including habitat loss, retaliatory killing, prey depletion and disease. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Information on the status of the African wild dog is known in other parts of the world where it occurs, but in Cameroon, particularly in the Tchabal Mbabo Mountain Range, this information is difficult to gather due to the rarity and elusive nature of this carnivore, making its sightings increasingly difficult.
Setting camera attached on tree by Massoh Gertruide Dalila. The copyright information of that photo is: ©Gertruide D. Massoh.
During several surveys conducted in the Tchabal Mbabo Mountain Range in 2019 and 2021, local people reported that African wild dogs were still present in the area. Furthermore, during our recently completed 1st Rufford project, although no evidence of this species was recorded during the camera trap survey, some local hunters claimed to have encountered the African wild dog on three occasions during the study period in 2024. Given that this species has a large home range and usually occurs at low densities in its range, deploying more camera traps over a wider area of the project site, coupled with the local hunters' monitoring approaches, could be a good way to update the status of the African wild dog in the Tchabal Mbabo area, and thus help decision-makers and wildlife managers to make good conservation decisions for this species.
This project aims to: (1) Provide evidence of the presence of African wild dogs in the Tchabal Mbabo mountain by combining an increased number of camera traps with the use of trained assistants to accompany hunters during key periods; (2) Provide a distribution map and key habitats of the African wild dog, using the GPS coordinates of the camera stations that will detect this species or the coordinates of the signs of presence of this species recorded in the field; (3) Identify the anthropogenic activities that threaten wild dogs in the study area by collecting signs of human presence on the recces that separate two camera stations; and (4) Raise awareness and promote education about wildlife conservation, particularly African wild dogs, among the local population through a combination of educational materials and engaging workshops.