Conservation Strategy for the Pygmy Hippopotamus © ZSL Compiled by D. Mallon, C. Wightman, P. De Ornellas, B. Collen and C. Ransom. Conservation Strategy for the Pygmy Hippopotamus Produced following the Pygmy Hippo Conservation Strategy Workshop, Monrovia, Liberia 22-24 November 2010 Workshop logo design courtesy of Shane M. Robinson, San Diego, California Recommended citation: Mallon, D., Wightman, C., De Ornellas, P. and Ransom, C. (Compilers) 2011. Conservation Strategy for the Pygmy Hippopotamus. IUCN Species Survival Commission. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. The designation of geographical entities in this report do not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of IUCN or SSC concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area, or concerning the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN Published by: IUCN SSC Pygmy Hippo sub-group to the Hippo Specialist group and the IUCN SSC Species Conservation Planning sub-committee. Copyright: ©IUCN Species Survival Commission 2011 Reproduction of this publication for educational, conservation and other non-commercial purposes is authorised without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for sale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. 2 Contents 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 5 2. BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY OF THE PYGMY HIPPO ............................................................................ 6 2.1 Taxonomy ................................................................................................................................ 6 2.2 Common names ...................................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Description .............................................................................................................................. 6 2.4 Biology and Ecology ................................................................................................................ 7 2.5 Habitat .................................................................................................................................... 8 3 DISTRIBUTION AND POPULATION .................................................................................................. 9 3.1 Distribution ............................................................................................................................. 9 3.1.1 Global distribution .......................................................................................................... 9 3.1.2 Mapping .......................................................................................................................... 9 3.1.3 Côte d'Ivoire (Map1) ..................................................................................................... 10 3.1.4 Guinea (Map2) .............................................................................................................. 10 3.1.5 Liberia (Map3) ............................................................................................................... 10 3.1.6 Sierra Leone (Map4) ...................................................................................................... 10 3.1.7 Nigeria (Map5) .............................................................................................................. 11 3.1.8 Distribution across national boundaries ....................................................................... 11 3.2 Population ............................................................................................................................. 17 3.2.1 Global population.......................................................................................................... 17 3.2.2 Côte d'Ivoire .................................................................................................................. 17 3.2.3 Guinea ........................................................................................................................... 18 3.2.4 Liberia ............................................................................................................................ 18 3.2.5 Sierra Leone .................................................................................................................. 18 4. Conservation action ..................................................................................................................... 19 4.1 IUCN Red List Classification ................................................................................................... 19 4.2 IUCN Species Survival Commission ....................................................................................... 19 4.3 CITES ...................................................................................................................................... 19 4.4 EDGE of Existence ................................................................................................................. 19 4.5 Legal protection .................................................................................................................... 19 4.6 Protected Areas .................................................................................................................... 19 4.7 Current research and conservation initiatives ...................................................................... 21 4.7.1 Landscape level initiatives ............................................................................................ 21 4.7.2 Transboundary initiatives ............................................................................................. 21 4.7.3 Côte d'Ivoire .................................................................................................................. 21 4.7.4 Guinea ........................................................................................................................... 21 4.7.5 Liberia ............................................................................................................................ 22 3 4.7.6 Sierra Leone .................................................................................................................. 22 4.7.7 Captive Breeding ........................................................................................................... 22 5 THREATS ....................................................................................................................................... 24 5.1 Threat Assessment ................................................................................................................ 24 5.2 Habitat Loss and Fragmentation ........................................................................................... 24 5.3 Poaching ................................................................................................................................ 25 5.4 Human-Wildlife Conflict ........................................................................................................ 25 5.5 Inadequate Protected Area Network .................................................................................... 25 5.6 Climate Change ..................................................................................................................... 25 5.7 Civil Conflict........................................................................................................................... 25 5.8 Policy and Institutional Weakness ........................................................................................ 26 5.9 Gaps ...................................................................................................................................... 26 5.10 Lack of Regional Cooperation ........................................................................................... 26 6 PYGMY HIPPO CONSERVATION STRATEGY .................................................................................. 27 6.1 Vision ..................................................................................................................................... 27 6.2 Goal ....................................................................................................................................... 27 6.3 Objectives.............................................................................................................................. 27 6.4 Actions .................................................................................................................................. 28 7 IMPLEMENTATION ....................................................................................................................... 30 7.1 Finalizing the conservation strategy ..................................................................................... 30 7.2 Funding ................................................................................................................................. 30 7.3 National Action Plans (NAP) .................................................................................................. 30 7.3.1 National Action Plan format.......................................................................................... 30 7.3.2 Government Endorsement ..........................................................................................