ANPN Science Brief

English As nations assess the progress made over the past decade in addressing the factors that influence direct pressures on biodiversity and in formulating new policies and strategies for the coming decade, Gabon can look back on a more than positive record. Gabon created a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in 2017. This network far exceeds the 10% target set in 2010. The implementation of such an initiative has been possible in Gabon thanks to several stakeholders. Indeed, a consortium of policy makers and practitioners helped implementing a comprehensive and ecologically representative network of 20 MPAs. To achieve this, it was important for the country to create a national framework, build long-term stakeholder support, and focus on research that guides implementation and policy. Then, it was necessary to outline a four-step approach that countries and donors could use as an example to help meet international commitments. Keywords Aichi biodiversity targets, conserva...

English To better know African forest elephant ( Loxodonta cyclotis ) abondance and repartition, a study was done throughout Gabon. To that end, elephant dungs were systematically collected at 18 sites across Gabon. Then, a total of 4058 dung samples were collected, from which 2370 allowed to estimate elephant density at 0.38 per km 2 . Results also showed that Gabon is a forest elephant stronghold, with a population size of 95110 and a spatial distribution covering 250782 km 2 . Furthermore, protected areas and anthropogenic pressures do not seem to be good predictors of elephant density in this study. Key words: African forest elephant, Density estimation, Gabon, Loxodonta cyclotis, Non-invasive genetic, sampling, Single nucleotide polymorphism, Spatial capture-recapture The following persons from the ANPN Cellule Scientifique were part of this study research team:   S. Bourgeois, H. G. Bikang Bi Ateme, et Simira Banga Daouda. The field work took place in the following...

English With giant pangolins under severe threat due to increasing demand for their meat and scales, it seems essential to study their ecological requirements in order to gather more information for their conservation. This paper explores a method that involved anaesthetising and fitting three individuals (two males and one female) with tags and global positioning systems. The results obtained support the use of ketamine in combination with medetomidine to immobilize giant pangolins. This method will help to collect more biological, geographical distribution, and habitat association data on the giant pangolins. Français  Anesthésie de trois pangolins géants ( Smutsia gigantea ) dans des forêts tropicales vierges Face à la forte menace qui pèse sur les pangolins géants en raison d'une demande croissante de leur viande et leurs écailles, il semble essentiel d’étudier leurs besoins écologiques afin d’élargir les informations indispensables pour leur conservation. Cet article e...