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Atta Assemien Cyrille-Joseph

  • Biodiversity Journal, 11 (4): 0879-0887

    Atta Assemien Cyrille-Joseph, Kadjo Blaise, Soulemane Ouattara & Kouadio Yao Roger
    Structure of buffaloes Syncerus caffer (Sparrman, 1779) (Mammalia Bovidae) of the Comoe National Park (North-East Ivory Coast)
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2020.11.4.879.887

    ABSTRACT
    This study was conducted from January to August 2018 in Comoe National Park (CNP), Ivory Coast. This park is home to a great biological diversity in general and an important fauna of large mammals in particular. It is one of the priority areas of the West African protected areas network. Today, many wildlife species are threatened by intensive poaching. Despite the importance of this scourge, the information available on buffaloes in CNP is still very patchy. In order to determine some parameters of the conservation status of buffalo populations, this study was conducted in the central zone and southern zone of CNP. The camera-trap method (12 camera-traps) made it possible to determine the different age classes and sex ratios of the buffalo populations. Family units were observed 11 times on all two (2) sites corresponding to 34.38 % of the events (32). The average size of family units is 23.18 individuals (standard deviation = 25.52; N = 11) with maximum of 77 individuals. Eleven (11) different groups (herds) of 255 individuals were identified with an average size of 32 individuals per herd. In the center, four groups composed of 15 adults, 31 subadults, 37 juveniles and seven calves were identified. In the south, seven groups with 34 adults, 49 subadults, 79 juveniles and three calves were observed. Calves were more numerous in the herds observed in the center than those identified toward the periphery at the 5 % (P-value = 0.0254). This high presence of calves in the herds observed in the center would reflect the fact that the buffaloes retire to the central part of the park for calving. Based on the high proportion of individuals in the young age classes (juveniles 44.5 % and subadults 32.07 %) and the sex ratio 1.65 (one male for 1.65 females), the buffaloes population in the CNP was considered viable. However, the inbreeding rate and anthropogenic pressures have yet to be evaluated to complete these data.