First Insights Into Rodent Trapping in Oku Village, North-West Cameroon, Based on Interviews with Local Hunters

First insights into rodent trapping in Oku village, north-west Cameroon, based on interviews with local hunters

A LAIN D. MISSOUP,NGARTOUBAM D IDIER E RNEST C. KEMING and C HRISTIANE D ENYS

Abstract Mount Oku, in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, Brashares, ; Fa & Nasi, ) or unaffordable (Junker is known for its rodent diversity. It is located in an area with a et al., ). Bushmeat also provides an important source  high human population density (up to /km ), resulting in of income for rural and forest populations who may depend intense pressure on natural resources. Threats to biodiversity on wildlife resources to alleviate periods of economic hard- include overgrazing by cattle and goats in grassland areas ship (e.g. crop failures), or to supplement their primary and montane forests, firewood harvesting, agriculture, bee source of income, which is often based on small-scale keeping, debarking of Prunus trees for medicinal uses, and crop farming (Loibooki et al., ; Schulte-Herbrüggen bushmeat hunting. We used data from interviews with  et al., ). Because of rapid human population growth, local hunters to provide insights into rodent trapping in use of more efficient hunting tools, and increased access Oku village. Trapping took place primarily in closed canopy to forests provided by infrastructure developments, the har- forest. The majority of hunters (.%)setatleast traps vesting of wildlife is often unsustainable and has become per week, with a mean of  rodents trapped per hunter per one of the main threats to tropical biodiversity. This exploi- week. The two most captured species were the Vulnerable tation is a major cause of wildlife decline and defaunation Hartwig’spraomysPraomys hartwigi and the Endangered (Dirzo et al., ). A study describing the contribution of Mount Oku rat Lamottemys okuensis, both of which have overhunting on global-scale population declines and range declining populations. Rodents were harvested mainly for contractions of  mammal species found that nearly all household consumption and/or local trade, but .%of declines occurred in developing countries, where another interviewees also used P. hartwigi for traditional medicine. major threat is habitat loss caused by deforestation, agri- Our findings suggest that rodent trapping in Oku village cultural expansion, human encroachment and competition requires conservation attention, and that further quantitative with livestock (Ripple et al., ). Based on direct observa- studies are needed to assess its sustainability. tions, a literature review and interviews with hunters, the extirpation of large mammals in the Kilum-Ijim forest on Keywords Bushmeat,Cameroon,hunting,interviews,Lamot- Mount Oku in north-west Cameroon probably began in temys okuensis,Okuvillage,Praomys hartwigi,rodents the early th century, possibly starting with the loss Supplementary material for this article is available at of elephants Loxodonta africana, followed by buffalos doi.org/./S Syncerus caffer nanus (since the s) and other large and medium-sized mammals such as leopards Panthera pardus, chimpanzees Pan troglodytes and red river hogs Introduction Potamochoerus porcus (Maisels et al., ). Kilum-Ijim forest, on Mount Oku and the nearby Ijim he consumption of meat from wild animals, commonly Ridge in the Cameroon mountains, is the largest remaining Treferred to as bushmeat, is widespread throughout rural patch of Afromontane forest in West and Central Africa. and urban areas in the tropics (Milner-Gulland & Bennett, The area is known for its rich diversity of endemic  ). It contributes to food security, particularly where fish plant and animal taxa. Forty plant species endemic to  and farmed meat are unavailable (Bowen-Jones et al., ; Cameroon occur in Oku (Cheek et al., ), and the mountain harbours  of the  species of birds that are endemic to the country (Forboseh et al., ). It is proba- ALAIN D. MISSOUP (Corresponding author, orcid.org/0000-0002-3018-9188) and NGARTOUBAM DIDIER Zoology Unit, Laboratory of Biology and Physiology bly the last stronghold for two of these endemic species, of Animal Organisms, Faculty of Science, University of Douala, Douala, Bannerman’s turaco Tauraco bannermani and the banded Cameroon. E-mail [email protected] wattle-eye Platysteira laticincta, both categorized as En- ERNEST C. KEMING Kilum-Ijim Forest Project, Kumbo, Cameroon dangered on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, ). A recently CHRISTIANE DENYS ( orcid.org/0000-0002-1519-1546) Institut de Systématique, updated checklist of amphibians from Oku included  Evolution, Biodiversité, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France species, five of which are endemic to the mountain,  Received  January . Revision requested  February . seven to the Banso-Bamenda Highlands and to the Accepted  June . First published online  April . Cameroon Volcanic Line (Doherty-Bone & Gvoždik, ).

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, Downloadeddistribution, from https://www.cambridge.org/core and reproduction in any medium,. IP address: provided 170.106.202.8 the original work, onis 27 properly Sep 2021 cited. at 17:38:17, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/termsOryx, 2021, 55(4), 599–606 ©. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605319000772The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605319000772 600 A. D. Missoup et al.

Seventy-seven species of mammals have been recorded on Oku since  (Maisels et al., ), comprising mostly small-bodied species primarily from the Rodentia, Soricomorpha and Chiroptera. There are no other reports on the status of mammal populations of Mount Oku, except for rodents and shrews (Denys et al., ; Ntoungwa et al., ). The most recent checklist of Oku rodents suggested that at least  species occur in the area. Seven species are endemic to the Banso-Bamenda Highlands (Denys et al., ), with four of them restricted to Mount Oku. Six species (all endemics except Lemniscomys mittendorfi) are categorized as Vulnerable or Endangered on the IUCN Red List, with a decreasing population trend (IUCN, ).  With a human population density of up to /km , Oku village is one of the most densely populated areas in rural Africa, resulting in intense pressure on natural resources. Threats to the surrounding ecosystems include overgrazing by cattle and goats in grassland areas and montane forests, firewood harvesting, agriculture, bee keeping, debarking of Prunus trees for medicinal uses, and bushmeat hunting (Oates et al., ). In  researchers found a large number of so-called rat-squashing traps in the forest, suggesting that small rodents were among the animals primarily targeted by hunters (Maisels et al., ). This pattern is not common in the Congo Basin forest block where most FIG. 1 Location of the study area in the Northwest Region of harvested mammals are large and medium-sized species Cameroon. (Ripple et al., ), and there are no published reports describing the hunting of rodents in the context of wildlife conservation in Central Africa. Small mammals can provide the Banso-Bamenda Highlands were completely covered important ecological functions, including seed dispersal with forest (Cheek et al., ). The forested area was   (Yi & Zhang, ), pollination (Johnson & Pauw, ), , ha in  but had been reduced to c. , ha by consumption of vegetation and invertebrates (Payne &  (Momo et al., ). The remaining forests on Mount   Longland, ) and soil disturbance (Teunkens, ). In Oku are not part of any formally protected area. The vege- addition, they are a primary food source for many other tation has been described by Maisels & Forboseh (), vertebrates including owls, diurnal birds, and micro- and Cheek et al. () and Asanga (). The Kilum-Ijim for-  mesocarnivores (Riegert et al., ). Rodent population est is a montane cloud forest, with a canopy dominated by declines and local extirpations can thus negatively affect upper montane forest species such as Podocarpus latifolius, ecosystems. Here we document rodent trapping in Oku, Syzygium guineense, Schefflera mannii, Carapa grandiflora, based on data collected from local hunters. Nuxia congesta, Prunus africana and Bersama abyssinica. Since  secondary forests have developed on former fallow lands, mainly characterized by heliophilous and fire- Study area resistant trees and shrubs (Gnidia glauca, Hypericum revo- lutum, Hypericum roeperianum, Maesa lanceolate, Erica mannii), Oku village, in the Bui and Boyo administrative subdivision and herbs of open habitats (Hyparrhenia sp., Sporobolus of the Northwest Region of Cameroon (Central Africa), is africanus, Pennisetum clandestinum). at c. , m altitude on Mount Oku, within the Banso- Bamenda Highlands (Fig. ). The equatorial climate of the – region is characterized by a wet season of months Methods (c. April–November) and a dry season of – months –   (c. December March). Mean annual rainfall is , mm Data collection and temperature during the dry season is – °C (Forboseh & Ikfuingei, ). In January , we interviewed  hunters local to Oku It is likely that before the increase of the human popula- village. We divided the village into five areas and identi- tion and the development of agriculture in the th century, fied households with potential interviewees based on the

local knowledge of ECK. We then randomly selected TABLE 1 Demographics of  local hunters interviewed in Oku households with hunters from each of the five areas, to village, Cameroon. For each question the total number of valid ensure representative coverage of the entire village. Par- responses received is given in parentheses. All respondents were ticipation was voluntary and each participant signed a men. document confirming informed consent before the inter- Question & response options No. of responses (%)   view started. Interviews lasted c. . hours and were in the Age (years) (106) local Lamnso language and/or English. We used a semi- 21–30 9 (8.5) structured questionnaire with  questions that were orga- 31–40 21 (19.8) nized into three sections to () capture the demographics 41–50 39 (36.8) – of the population of local hunters, () examine their 51 60 18 (17.0) – trapping activities and () explore the taxa of wild rodents 61 70 17 (16.0) . 70 2 (1.9) captured, and their uses. Marital status (99) The first section comprised six questions, regarding the Married 95 (96.0) interviewee’s() age, () sex, () marital status, () number Single 2 (2.0) of children, () educational level, and () primary occupa- Widowed 2 (2.0) tion. The ten questions in the second section focused on Divorced 0 (0) the () number of years the interviewee had been trapping No. of children (106)   , 5 32 (30.2) rodents, ( ) target taxa, ( ) main habitat chosen for trapping, –   6 10 54 (50.9) ( ) distance from village to the farthest trap, ( ) changes in .   10 20 (18.9) this distance over time, ( ) types of trap used, ( ) materials Educational level (106)  used for manufacturing traps, ( ) number of traps set per No formal education 21 (19.8) week, () mean number of rodents trapped per week, and Part primary school 18 (17.0) () changes in the number of rodents trapped over  year. Completed primary school 55 (51.9) In the five questions of the third section we asked intervie- Part secondary & high school 10 (9.4) wees () to order  rodent taxa according to their capture fre- Completed secondary & high school 2 (1.9) quency (we included all rodent taxa occurring in the area and University 0 (0) Primary occupation (91) limited the identification to genus level when it was difficult Farmer 78 (85.7)  to distinguish the species in the local language), ( )inwhich Hunter 0 (0) habitats they trapped each of these taxa, ()whichwasthe Shepherd 3 (3.3) main trapping season for each taxon, () about the uses of ro- Trader 0 (0) dents trapped, and () whether they had perceived a decrease Traditional healer 5 (5.5) in the number of rodents harvested over time, with those who Retired 0 (0) answered yes specifying whether the decrease had occurred Other 5 (5.5) during the last  years or over a longer period of time. ranked them in order of importance based on the total Data analysis counts. To analyse the relative importance of rodent taxa captured, we counted how many interviewees had listed each Upon examination of the data we found that some respon- taxon in the seven most frequently trapped taxa. We con- ses were unusable for further analysis, for example when the verted answers of all closed questions to per cent, except for hunter chose none of the options or more than one, without questions ()and() of the third section (capture habitats of providing clear reasons (Tables  & ). We categorized the trapped taxa, and the use of rodents), for which we retained hunters’ age into six -year classes (ranging from  to .  the data as final counts (i.e. absolute numbers; Table ). years; Table ) and calculated the per cent of hunters in each class, and their mean age. We carried out the same cal- Results culations for the number of children in the hunter’sfamily, and the number of rodents trapped per week. Papworth Demographics of local hunters et al. () reported the existence of a shifting baseline syndrome in two populations of hunters from Central Africa, Hunters were – years old (mean  ± SD  years), mainly characterized by generational or personal amnesia. with – years being the most common age class (.%;  We therefore used a χ test, implemented in XLSTAT Table ). All hunters were male, most (.%) were married, v.. (Addinsoft, Paris, France), to evaluate the effect of and most commonly (.%) they had – children, with a the hunters’ age and their experience in rodent trapping on mean of  ± SD  children per family. More than half of their responses. Further, we counted how many times each the hunters (.%) completed primary school, few attended plant species used to construct traps was mentioned, and some secondary and high school (.%) or completed it

TABLE 2 Characterization of trapping activities, based on interviews as their target group. Most hunters set traps primarily in with  local hunters in Oku village. For each question the total closed forest (.%), some in open areas (.%) and few number of valid responses received is indicated in parentheses. in bamboo forests (.%). Montane grassland and cropland All interviewees stated to target rodents. were never the main hunting habitat. Of the  hunters, Question & response options No. of responses (%) . % reported to regularly cover $  km during trapping   –   .  Experience in rodent trapping (years) (106) sessions, . % covered km, . % travelled km, 0–5 11 (10.4) .% travelled – km and .% covered ,  km. The hun- . 5–10 15 (14.2) ters’ age and years of trapping experience had no effect on . 10–15 14 (13.2) any reported changes in the distance covered over time . –  15 20 21 (19.8) (χ tests, P = . and . for age and years of trapping, . 20 45 (42.5) respectively). Over half of the hunters (.%) reported Main habitat for trapping (106) the distance travelled had increased over time, and . Closed forest 87 (82.1)   Open forest 16 (15.1) and . % declared that the distance had remained the Bamboo forest 3 (2.8) same or decreased over time, respectively. Montane grassland 0 (0) Most hunters (.%) reported using only one type of Cropland 0 (0) trap and .% used multiple trap types. The traditional ro- Distance from village to furthest trap (106) dent trap used by local hunters consists of plant materials – 0 2 km 3 (2.8) with a rock placed such that it will crush the animal passing . 2–5 km 17 (16.0) . – through the trap. Ten plant species/taxa were mentioned as 5 10 km 47 (44.3)   . 10 km 39 (36.8) material used for building traps (Table ). Of the hunters Change in distance to furthest trap over time (106) who answered this question, most mentioned Raphia farini- Increased 56 (52.8) fera (Gaertn.) Hyl. ( responses) and Xymalos monospora Decreased 12 (11.3) (Harv) Bail. ( responses). The least mentioned species was No change 38 (35.9) Pittosporum viridiflorum Sims ( responses). The major- No. of trap types used (105) ity (, .%) of hunters reported they set $  rodent One 90 (85.7) traps per week, six hunters (.%) reported – traps, Multiple 15 (14.3)   –   – No. of traps set per week (98) three hunters ( . %) used and two ( . %) set # 25 0 (0) traps per week. The most frequently reported range of the 26–50 2 (2.0) number of rodents trapped per week was – (.%of 51–75 3 (3.1) responses) and some hunters reported harvesting .  76–100 6 (6.1) rodents per week (Table ). The mean number of rodents . 100 87 (88.8) harvested per week was  ± SD . Most (.%) intervie- Mean no. of rodents trapped per week (106) wees stated that the mean number of rodents harvested # 25 30 (28.3) per week is not constant throughout the year, with more 26–50 41 (38.7) 51–75 20 (18.9) animals trapped during the rainy season. 76–100 9 (8.5) . 100 6 (5.7) Change in no. of rodents trapped over 1 year (106) Rodent taxa trapped and their uses Decreased 92 (96.9) No change 3 (3.2) The distribution of responses regarding the primary trapping locations and the rank in the order of capture  (.%). Twenty-one interviewees (.%) had no formal frequency is given in Table . Hunters reported harvest-  education and none attended university. The primary oc- ing five of the taxa (P. hartwigi, Oenomys hypoxanthus, cupation of most hunters was farming (.%), followed H. rufocanus, Lemniscomys spp., O. occidentalis) in all by practicing traditional medicine (.%), animal breeding habitat types. Hylomyscus spp., L. okuensis and Cricetomys (.%), carpentry (.%) and masonry (.%). None of the sp. were caught in all habitats except croplands, and interviewees indicated hunting or trade was their primary H. rufocanus in all habitats except bamboo forests.  occupation. Lophuromys spp. were primarily captured in cropland ( mentions), mountain grasslands () and bamboo forest (). Dasymys sp. was only captured in closed forest. Sev- Trapping activities eral taxa were not reported as being captured in any of those habitats (Mastomys spp., Mus spp., Grammomys The majority of hunters (.%) reported to have trapped spp., A. africanus and squirrels), although some of these rodents for $  years (Table ). All hunters selected rodents were ranked among the most frequently harvested taxa.

Oryx, 2021, 55(4), 599–606 © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605319000772 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.8, on 27 Sep 2021 at 17:38:17, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605319000772 https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Downloaded from Oryx 01 54,599 55(4), 2021, , https://www.cambridge.org/core – 606 © . https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605319000772 h uhrs,22.Pbihdb abig nvriyPeso eafo an lr nentoa doi:10.1017/S0030605319000772 International Flora & Fauna of behalf on Press University Cambridge by Published 2020. Author(s), The

TABLE 3 The  rodent taxa included in the survey with  local hunters in Oku. The table shows the number of interviewees who reported capturing each taxon in different habitat types, and . IPaddress: the number of interviewees who included each taxon amongst the top seven most frequently captured taxa. All interviewees reported capturing more individuals of all taxa during the rainy season.

170.106.202.8 No. of interviewees Conservation Total no. of No. of interviewees capturing the taxon status (endemism/ interviewees ranking the taxon in Rank in order in habitat type2 IUCN Red List capturing top 7 most frequently of capture 1 , on Taxon category ) the taxon CF OF BF MG C captured taxa frequency

27 Sep2021 at17:38:17 Atherurus africanus Not endemic/LC 36 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 Cricetomys sp. No species endemic/n.a. 102 42 36 42 12 3 19 9 Dasymys sp. No species endemic/n.a. 18 30 0 0 0 0 0 12 Grammomys spp. No species endemic/n.a. 86 0 0 0 0 0 54 4 Hybomys rufocanus Endemic to Cameroon Volcanic Line/not assessed 102 6 12 0 45 42 46 5 Hylomyscus spp. H. grandis endemic to Oku/EN 102 48 45 48 42 0 32 6

, subjectto theCambridgeCore termsofuse,available at Lamottemys okuensis Genus endemic to Oku/EN 102 48 45 48 42 0 58 2 Lemniscomys spp. L. mittendorfi endemic to Oku/LC 102 36 35 12 36 18 0 12 Lophuromys spp. L. dieterleni endemic to Mt Oku/EN 86 0 0 12 24 56 28 8 Mastomys spp. No species endemic/n.a. 102 0 0 0 0 0 31 7 Mus spp. No species endemic/n.a. 102 0 0 0 0 0 0 12

Oenomys hypoxantus O. hypoxantus albiventris endemic to Oku/not assessed 78 32 9 6 3 12 17 10 603 Cameroon in village Oku in trapping Rodent Otomys occidentalis Endemic to Bamenda Highlands/VU 102 42 36 9 39 21 57 3 Praomys hartwigi Endemic to Bamenda Highlands/VU 102 54 51 47 35 12 66 1 Squirrels Paraxerus cooperi endemic to Cameroon Volcanic Line/DD 102 0 0 0 0 0 16 11  DD, Data Deficient; LC, Least Concern; VU, Vulnerable; EN, Endangered; n.a., not applicable because the taxon was not identified to species level or contained several species in different Red List categories.  CF, closed forest; OF, open forest; BF, bamboo forest; MG, montane grassland; C, cropland. 604 A. D. Missoup et al.

TABLE 4 Plant taxa used for the manufacture of rodent traps, based sibility to provide for their family, and bushmeat hunting on interviews with  local hunters in Oku. None of these plants (Wright & Priston, ). All hunters interviewed in our are endemic to the area, and none have been assessed for the IUCN study were male, most were married, with a mean number Red List. of seven children per family, suggesting high levels of Taxon No. of responses responsibility and thus reliance on wild meat for food Raphia farinifera (Gaertn.) Hyl. 59 security. Xymalos monospora (Harv.) Bail. 47 Education affects people’s perceptions, with knowledge Clematis hirsuta (Gill.) Perr. 21 about the importance of biodiversity conservation being Syzygium guineense (Wild.) D.C. 18 scarce in less educated communities (Anthony, ; Rapanea melanophloeos (L.) Mez. 15 Vodouhê et al., ). People with higher levels of formal Arundinaria alpina (K. Schum.) 12 education tend to be involved in more diverse activities Cyperaceae 12 that may benefit biodiversity conservation, including anti- Entada abyssinica Stend ex A. Rich. 12 Podocarpus latifolius (Thumb.) R.G. ex Mirb. 9 poaching activities, tourism, teaching, and working with Pittosporum viridiflorum Sims 5 conservation NGOs (Vodouhê et al., ). More highly educated people also have more diverse sources of income and rarely practice agriculture as their primary occupation. All hunters reported that higher numbers of rodents, of all In Oku, the majority (.%) of interviewed hunters were taxa, were captured in the rainy season. Praomys hartwigi farmers and most had a low educational level (only c. % was the most commonly trapped taxon. Other species fre- were educated beyond primary school level), which is con- quently trapped were H. rufocanus, L. okuensis, and O. occi- sistent with the finding of Vodouhê et al. () suggesting dentalis; captures of Grammomys spp. and Hylomyscus spp. that less educated communities are less aware of the im- were less common. portance of biodiversity conservation and more involved in Most hunters used the rodents captured for household bushmeat hunting. Local wildlife conservation authorities       consumption ( mentions; . %) and trade ( ; . %). should monitor the education of local communities in Oku   Sixty-nine hunters ( . %) also mentioned the use of P. and take adequate measures to ensure the conservation of ’ hartwigi in traditional medicine. The hunters age and years the area’s biodiversity. of trapping experience had no effect on any perceived Our findings suggest that rodent trapping is a secondary decrease in the number of rodents harvested over time activity, with rodents primarily used for household consump- χ     ( tests, P = . and . for age and years of trapping, tion (% of hunters) and as a source of additional income    respectively). Most hunters ( ; . %) had noticed a de- (%). The consumption of small rodents has not previously crease in the number of rodents captured over time, with been noted as a common practice in Cameroon, or in tropical    . % reporting the decrease occurred in the last years, Africa more widely, because most hunters target larger ani-   and . % stating the decrease had occurred over a longer mals (Fa et al., ). The most commonly consumed rodents period of time. are generally those with a relatively high body weight, such as grasscutters Tryonomys spp. and giant rats Cricetomys  Discussion sp. (Assogbadjo et al., ). In Oku, however, small rodents are regularly targeted (see Supplementary Table  for the body Hunting of wild animals as a source of protein is common in weight of the  targeted taxa). humid forests in Africa, but the sustainability of the practice Most of the interviewed hunters (. %) reported cover- depends on the relationship between human and wildlife ing a minimum distance of  km to set traps and nearly half population densities (Fa et al., ). With a human popu- suggested that the trapping distance had increased over time  lation density of –/km , hunting in Oku has resulted (this did not depend on the age of hunters or their experi- in the local extirpation of most mammal species with a body ence in rodent trapping). Nearly % of hunters operated weight .  g (Maisels et al., ), which has probably led $  rodent traps per week, in which they caught a to a shift towards the consumption of small mammals. Our mean of c.  animals per week, and most had perceived a findings suggest that rodent trapping is a regular practice in decrease in the number of rodents harvested over time. We Oku that has probably been passed down generations for thus suggest that rodent trapping in Oku requires conserva- .  years. Hunters were – years old, which represents tion attention. Two quantitative indicators can be used for at least three generations of hunters. Many (.%) of the the offtake of terrestrial species: () mean body mass of har- hunters interviewed reported to have trapped rodents for vested species across sites and dates, and () time series of .  years. This long-term rodent trapping in Oku has the number of harvested individuals across species (Ingram put persistent pressure on rodent populations over an et al., ). Our study was based on interviews conducted extended period of time. Previous studies have reported over  month; further studies over a longer period of time links between hunters’ family size, their level of respon- are needed to gather data on the number of individuals

harvested for each species and their uses, to evaluate the activities that could reduce the local community’sdepend- trapping pressure for all rodent species in Oku, particularly ence on bushmeat to meet their protein requirements. those of conservation concern (i.e. categorized as threatened on the IUCN Red List). More specifically, rodent trapping Acknowledgements We thank the local hunters who participated in needs to be monitored over an extended period of time, the study, and two anonymous reviewers for their critiques. Fieldwork was funded by the UNESCO-HP Project entitled Renforcement des combined with more detailed interviews of hunters, to as- capacités locales pour l’étude des changements climatiques et de leurs sess the sustainability of this practice in Oku. A previous conséquences multiformes à travers le calcul distribué avec le concours study reported a combination of a large number of traps de la diaspora, directed Robert Mbiake. used (up to  traps per hunter per night) and a low rate of rodents harvested (– rodents in each daily visit) Author contributions Study design: ADM, ND, CD; data collection: ECK; data analysis: ADM, CD, ND; writing: ADM. as an indicator of high hunting pressure (Maisels et al.,  ). We found a large number of traps set and low Conflict of interest None. trapping success (c. .% for a minimum effort of  trap nights), suggesting intense trapping pressure on the rodent Ethical standards This research abided by the Oryx guidelines populations of Oku. on ethical standards and was conducted under a permit (No 41/ MINRESI/B00/C00/C40) from the Ministry of Scientific Research and Most interviewed hunters reported that they trapped Innovation. The researchers obtained prior, voluntary and informed principally in closed forest, and the plants used to build consent from each of the study participants before the interviews. traps (except those of the family Cyperaceae) were also forest species. Nearly all rodent taxa captured by hunters were References trapped in closed forest (except Lophuromys spp.), although

many were also captured in other habitats. It is possible ANTHONY,B.() The dual nature of parks: attitudes of that the association between forests and the captured neighbouring communities towards Kruger National Park, taxa is biased by the fact that most trappers are primarily South Africa. Environmental Conservation, , –. hunting in forested areas. Some rodent species may be shift- ASANGA,C.() Case Study of Exemplary Forest Management in ing their habitat usage in response to forest disturbance Central Africa: Community Forest Management at the Kilum-Ijim Mountain Forest Region, Cameroon. Working Paper FM/. Food around Oku, which could explain some of the less expected and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy. responses provided by hunters. For example, O. occidentalis ASSOGBADJO, A.E., CODJIA, J.T.C., SINSIN, B., EKUE, M.R.M. & is a typical grassland rodent but also occurs among ferns MENSAH, G.A. () Importance of rodents as a human food of montane forest clearings (Taylor & Hutterer, ). A source in Benin. Belgian Journal of Zoology, , –.  large proportion of hunters reported capturing this spe- BOWEN-JONES, E., BROWN,D.&ROBINSON, E.J.Z. ( ) Economic commodity or environmental crisis? An interdisciplinary approach cies in forested areas. To gain further insights, it would be to analysing the bushmeat trade in central and West Africa. Area, useful to quantify the trapping effort in each habitat type , –. and to correlate this with the trapping rate for each BRASHARES, J.S. () Bushmeat hunting, wildlife declines, and fish species. supply in West Africa. Science, , –.  A study in south-east Gabon reported an increased CHEEK, M., ONANA, J.-M. & POLLARD, B.J. ( ) The Plants of Mt Oku and the Ijim Ridge: A Conservation Checklist. Royal Botanic trapping rate of rodents in the rainy season, which corre- Gardens, Kew, UK.  lated with breeding activities (Nicolas & Colyn, ). DENYS, C., MISSOUP, A.D., NICOLAS, V., FÜLLING, O., DELAPRÉ, A., Oku hunters reported harvesting more individuals of all BILONG BILONG, C.F. et al. () African highlands as mammal taxa in the rainy season. Data on population dynamics of diversity hotspots: new records of Lamottemys okuensis (Rodentia: Oku rodents are needed for a detailed assessment of any Muridae) and other endemic rodents from Mount Oku, Cameroon. Zoosystema, , –. pattern. The Vulnerable P. hartwigi and Endangered L. DIRZO, R., YOUNG, H.S., GALETTI, M., CEBALLOS, G., ISAAC, N.J.B. & okuensis were the two most harvested species. Lamot- COLLEN,B.() Defaunation in the Anthropocene. Science, temys okuensis is restricted to montane forest in an area , –.  of c.  km (Missoup et al., ). Given this limited DOHERTY-BONE, T.M. & GVOŽDÍK,V.() The Amphibians of distribution, the fact that it is one of the most commonly Mount Oku, Cameroon: an updated species inventory and  – trapped rodents is of concern. Praomys hartwigi, the most conservation review. Zookeys, , . FA,J.&NASI,R.() The Role of Bushmeat in Food Security and harvested taxon, is also used locally for traditional medi- Nutrition. XIV World Forestry Congress, Durban, South Africa, cine. There is an urgent need to collect data on the popula- – September . tion trends and conservation status of these two species in FA, J.E., OLIVERO, J., REAL, R., FARFÁN, M.A., MÁRQUEZ, A.L., Oku. We propose that an educational programme should be VARGAS, J.M. et al. () Disentangling the relative effects of developed to sensitize the local population about negative bushmeat availability on human nutrition in Central Africa. Scientific Reports, , . effects of intensive rodent trapping on the biodiversity of FORBOSEH, P.F. & IKFUINGEI, R.N. () Estimating the population Mount Oku. This should be combined with support for fam- densities of Tauraco bannermani in the Kilum-Ijim forest, ily planning and the development of alternative livelihood Northwestern Cameroon. Ostrich, , –.

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