Apologies for lack of posts

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Apologies to readers for the absence of blogposts during September; I was away and am now busy catching up. More posts are on their way very soon.

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The Plateaux Batéké National Park now boasts four cat species, thanks to the return of the lion to Gabon

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English Since the return of a single male lion to Gabon’s Plateaux Batéké National Park, this park now harbours four species of wild felids; more than any other park within Central Africa’s Congo Basin. Besides the lion ( Panthera leo ), the park is home to important populations of leopards ( Panthera pardus ), African golden cats ( Caracal aurata ), and Gabon’s only protected population of the serval ( Caracal serval ). Servals are open habitat specialists which mainly feed on small rodents. The species is most easily recognized by its long legs, short tail and large, rounded ears. Commonly, the medium-sized serval is boldly spotted black on a tawny underground. There are also melanistic individuals in certain areas, which appear completely black. Even rarer, is the so-called ‘servaline’ form, which has much smaller, freckled spots, and was once thought to be a separate species. All three forms have been filmed in and around Plateaux Batéké National Park, making this the only ...
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  Length-weight relationships of 13 fish species from Akanda National Park in Gabon, Central Africa English This study provides the length-weight relationships (LWRs) for 13 fish species belonging to 10 families. Samples were collected in the mangrove area of Akanda National Park (ANP) in Gabon between May 2017 and March 2018 with fishing trammel gillnets (15 m long and 1.10 m high, 100 mm large mesh outer layers, and one 10, 27, and 40 mm small mesh each net). Fish total length and total weight were measured, with the precision of 1 mm and 1 g, respectively. The LWRs parameters for the 13 fish species had not yet been reported in FishBase for Central Africa. Our study provides large size ranges for  Monodactylus sebae  and  Pseudotolithus senegalensis  LWRs for Central Africa. The determination coefficient (r²) between total length and total body weight ranged from 0.946 ( Pellonula leonensis ) to 0.999 ( Pseudotolithus senegalensi...
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Characterization of Beach Seine Fishing in the Mandji-Etimboué Aquatic Reserve (Gabon) Caractérisation de la pêche à la senne de plage dans la Réserve Aquatique de Mandji-Etimboué (Gabon) Abstract / Résumé EN – The conservation of marine biodiversity and the establishment of aquatic protected areas have become a global challenge. Thus, the continued use of non-selective fishing gear requires a comprehensive and ongoing assessment. With this in mind, the catch rates and socio-economic aspects of beach seine fishing in the Mandji-Etimboué Aquatic Reserve (AR) were examined using landing monitoring as a methodological approach. The results showed that the average catch per unit effort (CPUE) of beach purse seiners is 393.29 kg/seine haul . Comparative analysis between CPUE in 2017 and 2021 showed a decrease of 490.9 kg/fishing trip in the rainy season and an increase of 5.08 kg/fishing trip in the dry season. The decrease in fishing effort and increase in CPUE in this Mandji-Etimb...
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