Comoé National Park

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Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Comoé National Park.
• It has been estimated that a minimum of 135 weaned individuals occur in the site.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• This site has a total size of 1,1487.56 km².
• Key reported threats include illegal hunting, agricultural encroachment, illegal logging, livestock farming, and human wildlife conflict.
• Conservation activities implemented include law enforcement, education, habitat restoration, biomonitoring and permanent presence of researchers.
• Comoé National Park is one of the largest protected areas in West Africa.

Site characteristics

Comoé National Park was established in 1968 and became Natural World Heritage Site in 1983 (UNESCO 2005). It is located in north-eastern Côte d’Ivoire, between the towns of Bouna and Kong, and close to the border with Burkina Faso and Ghana. The park is managed by the Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Réserves (OIPR).

The topography of Comoé NP is described as a peneplain, meaning a large area with a relief shaped by erosion, with a series of ridges and granite inselbergs up to 600m altitude (UNESCO 2005). The river Comoé flows south through the park for about 230 km (BirdLife International 2019).

The habitat is mostly characterized by savanna habitat with gallery forests and some areas with dense dry forests. Comoé NP is listed as an Important Bird Area and 494 bird species have been recorded for this site (BirdLife International 2019). Notably, five species of global conservation concern have been recorded, among them the three rare migrants pallid harrier (Circus macrourus), lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) and great snipe (Gallinago media), two hornbill species which are now very rare at the site, the yellow-casqued hornbill (Ceratogymna elata) and brown-cheeked hornbill (C. cylindricus, BirdLife International 2019).

The presence of 69 species of larger mammals has been reported, including white-thighed colobus (Colobus vellerosus), white-naped mangabey (Cercocebus lunulatus), Roloway monkey (Cercopithecus roloway), olive baboons (Papio anubis), Gambian mongoose (Mungos gambianus), African elephant (Loxodonta africana), leopard (Panthera pardus), lion (Panthera leo), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibious), Maxwell’s duiker (Philantomba maxwellii), red-flanked duiker (Cephalophus rufilatus), black duiker (Cephalophus niger), and bay duiker (Cephalophus dorsalis) and roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus, Fischer et al. 2002).

Comoé NP was listed as “World Heritage in Danger” from 2003 until 2017, because of the political and military crisis in Côte d’Ivoire from 2002 to 2011, which resulted in the absence of an effective management of the park. Poaching and bushfires were widespread, as was overgrazing by cattle herds and illegal gold mining (UNESC 2019). Since 2012, the situation stabilized, authorities regained access to the entire park, and enforced management of the park. In 2017, an IUCN mission obtained confirmation from a CCCP report that chimpanzee and elephant populations were present. As a consequence, Comoé was taken off the list of endangered world heritage sites (IUCN 2017).

Table 1. Basic site information for Comoé National Park

Species	Pan troglodytes verus
Area	1,1487.56 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 9.10 , Lon: -3.72
Type of site	Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types	Savanna, Subtropical/tropical dry forest, Wetlands (lakes, rivers, streams, bogs, marshes)
Type of governance	Governance by government

Types of sites Governance types Habitat types

Ape status

Marchesi et al. (1995) estimated chimpanzees in this park to number 470 individuals, which would represent the largest population of chimpanzees in the Soudanian Belt in Côte d’Ivoire. However, this was based on a survey effort of only 30 km. Fischer et al. (2002) confirmed the presence of chimpanzees in the area. In the following years, surveys found few or no signs of chimpanzees. A detailed survey of the area was implemented by the Comoé Chimpanzee Conservation Project (CCCP) in 2014-2015 and confirmed the permanent presence of several chimpanzee communities, notably also east of the river Comoé (Lapuente et al. 2017). From 2015 to 2017, CCCP collaborated with the Pan African Programme: The Cultured Chimpanzee (PanAf) to study many aspects of the ecology of the chimpanzees.

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Comoé National Park

Species	Year	Occurrence	Encounter or vistation rate (nests/km; ind/day)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Survey area	Sampling method	Analytical framework	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes verus	2010	Present				Comoé National Park	Aerial (drones/plane/helicopter)		WCF 2010	Total survey effort: 2,955.7 km
Pan troglodytes verus	2014		0			Comoé National Park	Aerial (drones/plane/helicopter)		WCF 2014	Total survey effort: 2,955.7 km
Pan troglodytes verus	1993-2000	Present				Comoé National Park	Interviews		Fischer et al. 2002
Pan troglodytes verus	1990		4.73	3.35		Three locations in the park	Line transects		Marchesi et al. 1995	Total survey effort: 30 km
Pan troglodytes verus	2008		0			West of Comoé river	Line transects		WCF 2008	Total survey effort: 32 km
Pan troglodytes verus	2009		0.38			West of Comoé river	Line transects		WCF 2009	Total survey effort: 143.5 km
Pan troglodytes verus	2012	Present				Comoé National Park	Line transects		WCF 2012	Total survey effort: 296 km. One nest recorded.
Pan troglodytes verus	2014-2015			0.14	127 (92-176)	Comoé National Park	Line transects & recces		Lapuente et al. (2020)	Minimum estimate, methods used included line transect sampling, reconnaissance walks and camera traps

Sampling methods Analytical frameworks

Threats

Human population has grown significantly around the park in the past decades and communities that live close to the park rely on the park for agriculture, fishing, cattle grazing and hunting of wildlife (BirdLife International 2019). During political instability from 2001 to 2010 it was too dangerous for local authorities to enter the park and law enforcement was virtually absent (UNESCO 2019). As a result poaching was widespread, likely taking a heavy toll on animal populations and in 2003 Comoé was listed as a “World Heritage in Danger” (UNESCO 2005, UNESCO 2019). It was taken off the list in 2017 since the situation has improved markedly and law enforcement had been reestablished (IUCN 2017). In a 2014 survey, agricultural activities were recorded in the western part of the park (WCF 2014), but in 2017 the limits of the park were changed, so that the few remaining fields were then outside the park (Lapuente et al. in review).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Comoé National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
6 Human intrusions & disturbance	6.2 War, civil unrest & military exercises	Low (up to 30% of population affected)	During times of political instability militias were present in the park (UNESCO 2019)	2001-2010
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.3 Livestock farming & ranching	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Cows recorded during aerial surveys, though numbers seem to have decreased from 2010 to 2014 (WCF 2014). Still frequent in the North and the East of the CNP (Lapuente et al. in review). The small livestock is therefore found almost exclusively in the biodiversity area, whereas the northern part of the park itself is already heavily impacted by the presence of cattle herds (Linchant et al. 2022)	2019-Ongoing (2022)
3 Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Artisanal gold mining (IUCN 2017, Lapuente et al. in review). Illegal gold mining is the most immediate and serious threat to the CNP. No mountain in the park has been spared by miners. The extraction sites are particularly vast and tend to remain very shallow (Linchant et al. 2022).	2019-Ongoing (2022)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Poaching widespread (Lapuente et al. 2017, UNESCO 2019, Linchant et al. 2022). A significant number of trails are regularly used by bicycles and motorcycles throughout the entire park (Linchant et al. 2022).	2019-Ongoing (2022)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Low (up to 30% of population affected)	Illegal fishing in Comoé river (Lapuente et al. 2017, BirdLife International 2019).	2019-Ongoing (2022)
7 Natural system modifications	7.1 Fire & fire suppression	Present (unknown severity)	Fires caused by poachers (UNESCO 2019)	Ongoing (2019)
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Low (up to 30% of population affected)	The presence of agricultural activities indicates encroachment on the protected area. However, this encroachment remains minimal and is primarily localized along the southwestern border, near the Mont Tingui Biodiversity Zone (Linchant et al. 2022).	Ongoing (2022)
5 Biological resource use	5.1.5 Persecution/human wildlife conflict	Present (unknown severity)	Great apes attacks on livestock reported (APES Atlas team pers. comm. 2025).	Ongoing (2025)

Threats

Conservation activities

Comoé NP is one of the largest protected areas in West Africa and is managed by the Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Réserves (OIPR). In 1989/1990 Prof. Linsenmair from the University Würzburg in Germany, founded the Comoé National Park Research Station. The construction of a permanent research station started in 2000. During the political crisis the park could not be accessed regularly by government authorities or researchers. Since the political situation stabilized in 2010, OIPR resumed its activities. This resulted in a decline in illegal activities and an increase in wildlife populations (WCF 2014). Comoé National Park Research Station has also resumed its activities since. In 2014, Juan Lapuente, in collaboration with Prof. Linsenmair and OIPR, started the Comoé Chimpanzee Conservation Project (CCCP). This ongoing project involves local and foreign students, and assistants, that study chimpanzees of CNP and work for their conservation. Their work focuses on a 900 km2 area in the south-west of the park. Currently, OIPR is conducting a study on the fire regime (OIPR 2019).

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Comoé National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
5 Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat	Designated as National Park since 1968 (UNESCO 2005)		1968-Ongoing
8 Permanent presence	8.3 Permanent presence of staff/manager	Comoé National Park Research Station and Comoé Chimpanzee Conservation Project (since 2014)		1989-Ongoing
2 Counter-wildlife crime	2.11 Implement monitoring surveillance strategies (e.g., SMART) or use monitoring data to improve effectiveness of patrols	Biomonitoring surveys by WCF and OIPR, permanent research and conservation activities by the Comoé Chimpanzee Conservation Project (WCF 2010, 2012, 2014, Lapuente et al. 2017, 2019). Aerial inventories carried out (Linchant et al. 2022)	Office ivoirien des Parcs et Réserves (OIPR)	2019-Ongoing (2022)
4 Education & awareness	4.1 Educate local communities about apes and sustainable use	Awareness raising activities implemented by OIPR and CCCP (OIPR 2019)		Ongoing (2019)
2 Counter-wildlife crime	2.3 Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	Ongoing patrols and law enforcement activities reported (APES Atlas team pers. comm. 2025).		Ongoing (2025)
4 Education & awareness	4.2 Involve local community in ape research and conservation management	Local communities participate in conservation programs through their involvement in ecological monitoring activities (APES Atlas team pers. comm. 2025).		Ongoing (2025)

Conservation activities

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Comoé National Park

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
2 Resources and capacity	2.2 Lack of staff	Linchant et al. 2022	Ongoing (2022)
2 Resources and capacity	2.5 Lack of equipment/transportation	Linchant et al. 2022	Ongoing (2022)
2 Resources and capacity	2.7 Lack of infrastructure	Linchant et al. 2022	Ongoing (2022)
4 Institutional support	4.4 Lack of transboundary cooperation	Linchant et al. 2022	Ongoing (2022)
5 Ecological context	5.1 Ecological constraints (e.g., susceptibility to climate change, difficult terrain)	Linchant et al. 2022	Ongoing (2022)
6 Safety and stability	6.2 Insecurity	Linchant et al. 2022	Ongoing (2022)

Challenges

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Comoé National Park

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management	1.2 Effective coordination	Linchant et al. 2022	Ongoing (2022)
2 Resources and capacity	2.3 Continuous/long-term funding	Linchant et al. 2022	Ongoing (2022)
2 Resources and capacity	2.4 Adequate data to inform and evaluate conservation actions	Linchant et al. 2022	Ongoing (2022)
2 Resources and capacity	2.6 External partnerships that add expertise or resources	Linchant et al. 2022	Ongoing (2022)
2 Resources and capacity	2.2 Sufficient funding	APES Atlas team pers. comm. 2025	Ongoing (2025)
2 Resources and capacity	2.5 Sufficient capacity/expertise to advise, design, or implement actions	APES Atlas team pers. comm. 2025	Ongoing (2025)
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Enablers

Research activities

The Comoé National Park Research Station conducts a diversity of research projects on ecophysiology, behavioral, chemical and evolutionary ecology. In 2014 a research project, the Comoé Chimpanzee Conservation Project (CCCP), was established at the site focusing on chimpanzee behavior, tool use and ecology (Lapuente et al. 2017, 2019).

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Comoé National Park

Category	Behavior	Observation type	Prevalence	Observation dates	Source	Habituation	Species	Comment
	Accumulative stone throwing				Kühl et al. 2016
	Ant dipping				Lapuente et al. 2017, Kühl et al. 2019
	Ant eating				Lapuente et al. 2017, Kühl et al. 2019
	Cave use				Galat et al. 2008, Kühl et al. 2019
	Honey eating				Lapuente et al. 2017, Kühl et al. 2019
	Honey extraction with tools				Lapuente et al. 2017, Kühl et al. 2019
	Leaf sponging for drinking water				Lapuente et al. 2017, Kühl et al. 2019
	Termite eating				Lapuente et al. 2017, Kühl et al. 2019
	Termite fishing				Lapuente et al. 2017, Kühl et al. 2019
	Water dipping				Lapuente et al. 2017, Kühl et al. 2019

Behaviours

Exposure to climate change impacts

As part of a study on the exposure of African great ape sites to climate change impacts, Kiribou et al. subm. extracted climate data and data on projected extreme climate impact events for the site. Climatological characteristics were derived from observation-based climate data provided by the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP, www.isimip.org). Parameters were calculated as the average across each 30-year period. For 1981-2010, the EWEMBI dataset from ISIMIP2a was used. For the two future periods (2021-2050 and 2071-2099) ISIMIP2b climate data based on four CMIP5 global climate models were used. For future projections, two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) were used. RCP 2.6 is a scenario with strong mitigation measures in which global temperatures would likely rise below 2C. RCP 6.0 is a scenario with medium emissions in which global temperatures would likely rise up to 3C by 2100. For the number of days with heavy precipitation events, the 98th percentile of all precipitation days (>1mm/d) was calculated for the 1979-2013 reference period as a threshold for a heavy precipitation event. Then, for each year, the number of days above that threshold was derived. The figures on temperature and precipitation anomaly show the deviation from the mean temperature and mean precipitation for the 1979-2013 reference period.

The estimated exposure to future extreme climate impact events (crop failure, drought, river flood, wildfire, tropical cyclone, and heatwave) is based on a published dataset by Lange et al. 2020 derived from ISIMIP2b data. The same global climate models and RCPs as described above were used. Within each 30-year period, the number of years with an extreme event and the average proportion of the site affected were calculated (see Kiribou et al. subm. for details).

Table 8. Estimated past and projected climatological characteristics in Comoé National Park

Value	1981-2010	2021-2050, RCP 2.6	2021-2050, RCP 6.0	2071-2099, RCP 2.6	2071-2099, RCP 6.0
Mean temperature [C]	27.2	28.3	28.1	28.6	29.7
Annual precipitation [mm]	1078	1114	1114	1102	1158
Max no. consecutive dry days (per year)	46	49.3	52.1	50.5	50.7
No. days with heavy precipitation (per year)	5.6	7.7	7.7	8	7.8

Table 9. Projected exposure of apes to extreme climate impact events in Comoé National Park

Type	No. of years with event (2021-2050, RCP 2.6)	% of site exposed (2021-2050, RCP 2.6)	No. of years with event (2021-2050, RCP 6.0)	% of site exposed (2021-2050, RCP 6.0)	No. of years with event (2070-2099, RCP 2.6)	% of site exposed (2070-2099, RCP 2.6)	No. of years with event (2070-2099, RCP 6.0)	% of site exposed (2070-2099, RCP 6.0)
Crop failure	7.5	0.03	6	0.03	6	0.03	12	0.03
Drought	1.75	33.33	0.5	16.67	1.25	33.33	0	0
Heatwave	2	35.19	2.5	66.67	0	0	5	70
River flood	2	0.34	1	0.19	2	0.64	2	0.13
Tropical cyclone	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wildfire	30	1.69	30	1.32	29	1.82	29	1.36

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  Precipitation anomaly inComoé National Park

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  Temperature anomaly inComoé National Park

References

BirdLife International. 2019. Important Bird Areas factsheet: Cavally and Goin - Debe Forest Reserves. Online: www.birdlife.org

Fischer F et al. 2002 Updated list of the larger mammals of the Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast. Mammalia 66(1): 83-92

Galat et al. 2008. Our Cousins Chimpanzees and Baboons Face Global Warming by Digging Wells to Filtrate Drinking Water. Proceedings 13th International Water Resource Association Congress, Nanterre, France

IUCN. 2017. African national park taken off World Heritage ‘danger list’ following IUCN advice. IUCN News. Online: www.iucn.org/news

Kühl, H. S., Kalan, A. K., Arandjelovic, M., Aubert, F., D’Auvergne, L., Goedmakers, A., … Boesch, C. 2016. Chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing. Scientific Reports 6:1–8.

Kühl HS et al. 2019. Human impact erodes chimpanzee behavioral diversity. Science. 363, 1453–1455.

Lapuente J. et al. 2017. Fluid dipping technology of chimpanzees in Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast. American Journal of Primatology. 79: e22628

Lapuente J. 2018. Recherche et travaux effectués par le Comoé chimpanzee Conservation Project. Juillet 2017 - Juillet 2018. Report for OIPR, 39 pp.

Lapuente, J., Ouattara, A., Köster, P. C., & Linsenmair, K. E. (2020). Status and distribution of Comoé Chimpanzees: combined use of transects and camera traps to quantify a low-density population in savanna-forest mosaic. Primates, 61(5), 647-659.

OIPR. 2019. Parc national de la Comoé. Online : www.oipr.ci

UNEP-WCMC, IUCN. 2018. Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN Online: www.protectedplanet.net

UNESCO. 2005. UNESCO – MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory: Biosphere Reserve Information Côte d’Ivoire Comoé. Online: www.unesco.org

UNESCO. 2019. State of Conservation – Comoé National Park (Côte d’Ivoire). Online: whc.unesco.org

WCF. 2008. Evaluation rapide de l’état du parc national de la Comoé : les grands mammifères et les activités illégales humaines. Online: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation

WCF. 2009. Rapport sur le recensement des chimpanzés dans le Parc National de la Comoé, Côte d’Ivoire. Online: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation

WCF. 2010. Etat des ressources naturelles du parc national de la Comoé et de sa zone périphérique, rapport de l’inventaire faunique par survol aérien (Mars 2010). Online: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation

WCF. 2012. Suivi écologique au parc national de la Comoé, rapport de l’inventaire pédestre de la faune (Mars-Août 2012. Online: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation

WCF. 2014. Etat de conservation du parc national de la Comoé et de sa zone périphérique, rapport de l’inventaire faunique par survol du 17 au 24 Avril 2014. Online: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation

Linchant, J., Sabdano, N., Eisendrath, L., & Vincke X. (2022). Rapport d'inventaire aérien du Parc National de la Comoé 2022, version révisée du 14.11.22. KfW/OIPR, 100p.

Page created by: APES Atlas Team Date: 2019-10-29

Page updated by: Diorne Zausa Date: 2024-11-28