Summary

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Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) are present in Zemongo Faunal Reserve.
The population size is unknown.
The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
The site has a total size of 10,100 km².
Poaching is a key threat to chimpanzees and other wildlife in the reserve
Conservation activities are not documented.

Site characteristics

Zemongo Faunal Reserve was established in 1925. The reserve is located in southeastern Central African Republic, bordering South Sudan to the northeast, and contiguous with Chinko Nature Reserve (Hughes & Hughes 1992). Originally the site was delineated as a 4,800 km² reserve to provide protection to the now extinct white and black rhinoceros (Plumptre et al. 2010). The site was extended and redesignated in 1975. The reserve has expanded to include a very diverse habitat in the region, marking the transition between Congolian rainforest and Sahelian grasslands (Plumptre et al. 2010). Zemongo comprises 10,100 sq. km, of which 1,720 sq. km consist of inundated forest. The site is situated in the Vovado river watershed (Hughes & Hughes 1992). The site is the only protected area in the region within the current known chimpanzee range (Plumptre et al. 2010).

Table 1. Basic site information for Zemongo Faunal Reserve

Species	Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii
Area	10,100 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 6.752278 , Lon: 25.207170
Type of site	Protected area (Faunal Reserve)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical swamp forest, Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Savanna
Type of governance

Types of sites Governance types Habitat types

Ape status

The presence of chimpanzees was reported during a survey prior to 2010; two nests and a footprint were found (Plumptre et al. 2010). There is a clear need for surveys to determine the current status of chimpanzees at the site (Plumptre et al. 2010).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Zemongo 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 schweinfurthii						Zemongo Faunal Reserve

Sampling methods Analytical frameworks

Threats

The human population is small along the border with Sudan, where chimpanzees inhabit forests. However, Zemongo is the only protected area in the region, and illegal poachers and armed militia coming from Sudan are increasingly common, as well as shepherds and refugees from South Sudan (GRASP).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Zemongo Faunal Reserve

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Intense hunting in the buffer zone of the reserve (Varty 2005).	Ongoing (2005)

Threats

Conservation activities

Despite the absence of conservation activities in the region, CAR’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan proposes rehabilitation of the reserve. This objective is reiterated in CAR’s National Operation Plan for COMIFAC (Plumptre et al. 2010).

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Zemongo Faunal Reserve

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Challenges

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Zemongo Faunal Reserve

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Enablers

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Zemongo Faunal Reserve

Category	Behavior	Observation type	Prevalence	Observation dates	Source	Habituation	Species	Comment
	Not reported

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 Zemongo 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]	24.9	26	25.7	26.3	27.2
Annual precipitation [mm]	1608	1659	1702	1691	1744
Max no. consecutive dry days (per year)	41.9	53	49.3	51.7	56.2
No. days with heavy precipitation (per year)	5.5	8.9	9.7	9.1	10.6

Table 9. Projected exposure of apes to extreme climate impact events in Zemongo 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	16.5	0.01	8.5	0.01	16.5	0	27.5	0.01
Drought	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Heatwave	3	35	2	32.14	2	41.67	4	41.67
River flood	1.75	0.72	2.5	0.53	2	0.71	2.75	0.52
Tropical cyclone	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wildfire	30	0.88	30	0.91	29	0.87	29	0.9

External links

References

Hughes. R. H.. Hughes. J. S.. A directory of African wetlands. 23 April 2011. 1992. IUCN. 978-2-88032-949-5. 485.

Plumptre, A.J., Rose, R., Nangendo, G., Williamson, E.A., Didier, K., Hart, J., Mulindahabi, F., Hicks, C., Griffin, B., Ogawa, H., Nixon, S., Pintea, L., Vosper, A., McClennan, M., Amsini, F., McNeilage, A., Makana, J.R., Kanamori, M., Hernandez, A., Piel, A., Stewart, F., Moore, J., Zamma, K., Nakamura, M., Kamenya, S., Idani, G., Sakamaki, T., Yoshikawa, M., Greer, D., Tranquilli, S., Beyers, R., Furuichi, T., Hashimoto, C. and Bennett, E. (2010). Eastern Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii): Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan 2010–2020. IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland. 52pp.

Varty, N. (2005). Central African Republic. World Atlas of Great Apes and Their Conservation. UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Center, 314.

Page created by: APES Atlas Team Date: 2022-01-15