Bafing Faunal Reserve

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Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Bafing Faunal Reserve.
• It has been estimated that between 417-1,408 individuals occurred in the site in 1993.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• This site has a total size of 2,504.09 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees is habitat degradation due to subsistence farming.
• Key conservation activities are awareness raising and education.
• Hottest and driest place in which western chimpanzees exist. Chimpanzees do not seem to be restricted to riverine forest, but are spread widely through woodland.

Site characteristics

Bafing Faunal Reserve is situated in southern Mali. The current status of the site is not known. This site is 5000 km² (World Database on Protected Areas 2019). Woodlands dominate most of the landscape. During his survey of south-western Mali, Moore (1985) regularly observed buffalo Syncerus caffer, roan Hippotragus equinus, hartebeest Alcelaphus buselaphus, and warthog Phacochoerus africanus. Sayer (1977) encountered giant eland Tragelaphus derbianus and giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis in this area. Lion Panthera leo, leopard Panthera pardus, and African wild dog Lycaon pictus also probably occur at very low densities (Moore 1985). The current state of biodiversity is not known. Although this is the hottest and driest place in which western chimpanzees are known to exist (Kortlandt 1983), chimpanzees at this site do not seem to be restricted to riverine forest, but are spread widely through the woodland (Moore 1985).

Table 1. Basic site information for Bafing Faunal Reserve

Species	Pan troglodytes verus
Area	2,504.09 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 12.90 , Lon: -10.58
Type of site	Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types	Rocky areas (inland cliffs, mountain peaks), Grassland, Subtropical/tropical dry forest
Type of governance	Governance by government

Types of sites Governance types Habitat types

Bafing (Mali) © E.Terrade

Ape status

In the 1970’s and 80’s, surveys conducted from vehicles or on foot confirmed chimpanzee presence in this area and estimated chimpanzee density at 0.08 chimpanzees per km2, resulting in a population of several hundred chimpanzees for the site (Sayer 1977, Moore 1985). More recent surveys by Pavy (1993) and Granier and Martinez (2004) estimated chimpanzee density at 0.27 and 0.35-0.4, respectively, yielding a population closer to, or above 1,000 individuals.

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Bafing Faunal Reserve

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	1993			0.27	1408.0	Bafing; study area size: 5,200 km²	Informed guess		Pavy 1993, in Kormos et al. 2003	Results of a “nest survey” were extrapolated to probable chimpanzee habitat
Pan troglodytes verus	2003- 2004		6.5	0.35-0.4		Area near camps Fari, Faragama, Djakoli	Line transects		Granier & Martinez 2004	Survey effort: 29 km on 18 line transects; 190 nests observed
Pan troglodytes verus	1972-1974	Present				Parc National du Baoulé and its three adjacent reserves of Fina, Badinnko and Kongossombougou, and the surrounding controlled hunting areas; study area size: 10,000 km²	Reconnaissance walk		Sayer 1977	Reconnaissance walk
Pan troglodytes verus	1984			0.08	700.0	South-west Mali; study area size: 5,000 km²	Reconnaissance walk		Moore 1985	Survey effort road: 650 km; survey effort foot: 100 km; extrapolation based on similar habitat types
Pan troglodytes verus	2004	Present				Area around Solo village in Bafing; study area size: 183 km²	Reconnaissance walk		Duvall 2008	Duvall (2008) walked loops of 62 km twice weekly for several months, encountered chimpanzee groups directly (48) or indirectly (224) on 272 occasions (Duvall 2008)

Sampling methods Analytical frameworks

Threats

Populations of several other species of large wild animals in Mali have declined drastically (Sayer 1977, Moore 1985), and it therefore seems probable that Mali’s chimpanzee population has also declined, although there is

no information on demographic trends to prove this (Kormos et al. 2003). The main causes of this population decline are hunting and agricultural expansion (Kormos et al. 2003), but road construction, human settlement, mining, and natural system modification causing flooding (Moor 1985, Kormos et al. 2003) are additional threats to chimpanzees and other wildlife species in this area.

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Bafing Faunal Reserve

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
1 Residential & commercial development	1.1 Residential areas	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Settlement and agriculture are allowed inside the parks and reserves in Mali (Sayer 1977, Duvall 2008)	Ongoing (2008)
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.3 Livestock farming & ranching	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Settlement and agriculture are allowed inside the parks and reserves in Mali (Sayer 1977)	1977-2000
3 Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Gold-mining near Kéniéba and Sadiola (Caspary et al. 1998, in Kormos et al. 2003)	Ongoing (2003)
4 Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Proposed road connecting Bamako and Dakar passing through Kouroukoto (Kormos et al. 2003)	Ongoing (2003)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present (unknown severity)	The killing of chimpanzees to protect crops and wild fruit trees has been reported for parts of Mali (Duvall 2008, Moore 1985, Sayer 1977), in other areas there are taboos against hunting chimpanzees (Terrade pers. obs.)	Ongoing (2008)
5 Biological resource use	5.1.2 Unintentional effects	Present (unknown severity)	Great apes are being injured by traps likely set for other wildlife (Sanogo S. pers. comm. 2025).	Ongoing (2025)
5 Biological resource use	5.1.5 Persecution/human wildlife conflict	Present (unknown severity)	Humans and great apes often share natural resources like water sources and forest fruits, leading to frequent encounters along paths or trails; however, this overlap sometimes results in harmful consequences, including instances where great apes are deliberately killed for trade or cultural practices (Sanogo S. pers. comm. 2025).	Ongoing (2025)
7 Natural system modifications	7.2 Dams & water management/use	High (more than 70% of population affected)	A large dam constructed on Bafing river at Manantali flooding some 500 km2 (Moore 1985)	1990
9 Pollution	9.3 Agricultural & forestry effluents	Low (up to 30% of population affected)	Area to be freed from onchocerciasis and trypanosomiasis; programmes to eliminate the vectors of the diseases are scheduled to take 20 years to complete (Sayer 1977).	1977-1997

Threats

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Bafing Faunal Reserve

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
4 Education & awareness	4.1 Educate local communities about apes and sustainable use	Awareness raising and educating local people about great apes (Sanogo S. pers. comm. 2025).		Ongoing (2025)
4 Education & awareness	4.2 Involve local community in ape research and conservation management	Local communities are often involved in conservation programs through awareness-raising activities, anti-erosion efforts, anti-poaching initiatives, and education on bush fires (Sanogo S. pers. comm. 2025).		Ongoing (2025)
7 Economic & other incentives	7.2 Provide non-monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g., better education, infrastructure development)	Local people are provided with general education and life skills (Sanogo S. pers. comm. 2025).		Ongoing (2025)

Conservation activities

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Bafing Faunal Reserve

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
2 Resources and capacity	2.1 Lack of capacity/training	Sanogo S. pers. comm. 2025	Ongoing (2025)
2 Resources and capacity	2.2 Lack of staff	Sanogo S. pers. comm. 2025	Ongoing (2025)
2 Resources and capacity	2.3 General lack of funding	Sanogo S. pers. comm. 2025	Ongoing (2025)
2 Resources and capacity	2.4 Lack of continuous/long-term funding	Sanogo S. pers. comm. 2025	Ongoing (2025)

Challenges

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Bafing Faunal Reserve

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management	1.2 Effective coordination	Sanogo S. pers. comm. 2025	Ongoing (2025)
2 Resources and capacity	2.6 External partnerships that add expertise or resources	Sanogo S. pers. comm. 2025	Ongoing (2025)
3 Engaged community	3.6 Local community engagement and support	Sanogo S. pers. comm. 2025	Ongoing (2025)
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Enablers

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Bafing Faunal Reserve

Category	Behavior	Observation type	Prevalence	Observation dates	Source	Habituation	Species	Comment
	Honey eating				Kühl et al. 2019
	Termite fishing				Kühl et al. 2019
	Termite eating				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. (2024) 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 2°C. RCP 6.0 is a scenario with medium emissions in which global temperatures would likely rise up to 3°C 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 (Kiribou et al. 2024).

Table 8. Estimated past and projected climatological characteristics in Bafing Faunal Reserve

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]	28	29.2	29.1	29.5	30.9
Annual precipitation [mm]	1083	1099	1058	1045	985
Max no. consecutive dry days (per year)	112.4	111.1	119	116.1	119.7
No. days with heavy precipitation (per year)	2.6	4	4	3.9	3

Table 9. Projected exposure of apes to extreme climate impact events in Bafing Faunal Reserve

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	6	0.01	2	0.01	4.5	0.01	11	0.01
Drought	1	50	1	75	0.25	25	2.25	100
Heatwave	0.5	50	0	0	0	0	0.5	50
River flood	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.25	0.02
Tropical cyclone	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wildfire	30	1.09	30	1.06	29	0.97	29	1.28

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  Precipitation anomaly in Bafing

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  Temperature anomaly in Bafing

References

Duvall C S. 2008. Human settlement ecology and chimpanzee habitat selection in Mali. Landscape Ecology 23: 699-716.

Granier N., Martinez L. 2004. Première reconnaissance des chimpanzés Pan troglodytes verus dans la zone transfontalière entre la Gunée et le Mali (Afrique de l’Ouest). Primatologie 6: 423-447.

Kiribou, R., Tehoda, P., Chukwu, O., Bempah, G., Kühl, H. S., Ferreira, J., ... & Heinicke, S. (2024). Exposure of African ape sites to climate change impacts. PLOS Climate, 3(2), e0000345.

Kormos R, Boesch C, Bakarr M I, Butynski T. (eds.). 2003. West African Chimpanzees. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group. IUCN, Switzerland and UK.

Kortlandt A 1983. Marginal habitats of chimpanzees. Journal of Human Evolution: 12 231–278.

Kühl H S, Boesch C, Kulik L, Hass F, Arandjelovic M, Dieguez P, et al. 2019. Human impact erodes chimpanzee behavioral diversity. Science 363: 1453–1455.

Moore J J. 1985. Chimpanzee survey in Mali, West Africa. Primate Conservation 6: 59–63.

Sayer J A. 1977. Conservation of large mammals in the Republic of Mali. Biological Conservation 12: 245–263.

Page created by: APES Atlas Team & E. Terrade Date: 2019-11-18

Page updated by: Dr. Saibou Sanogo Date: 2025-09-08