WEST AFRICA BIODIVERSITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE (WA BICC) SCOPING STUDY FOR PANGOLIN CONSERVATION IN WEST AFRICA December 2020 This document is made possible by the generous support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of its authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. This document was produced by the West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC) program through a Task Order under the Restoring the Environment through Prosperity, Livelihoods, and Conserving Ecosystems (REPLACE) Indefinite Quantity Contract (USAID Contract No. AID- OAA-I-13-00058, Order Number AID-624-TO-15-00002) between USAID and Tetra Tech, Inc. For more information on the WA BiCC program, contact: USAID/West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change Tetra Tech 2nd Labone Link, North Labone Accra, Ghana Tel: +233 (0) 302 788 600 Email: www.tetratech.com/intdev Website: www.wabicc.org Stephen Kelleher Chief of Party Accra, Ghana Tel: +233 (0) 302 788 600 Vaneska Litz Project Manager Burlington, Vermont Tel: +1 802 495 0303 Email: [email protected] Citation: USAID/West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC). (2020). Scoping study for pangolin conservation in West Africa. 2nd Labone Link, North Labone, Accra, Ghana. 227pp. Cover Photo: Black-bellied Pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla) being rehabilitated by the Sangha Pangolin Project, Dzangha-Sangha National Park, Central African Republic (Photo Credit: Alessandra Sikand and Sangha Pangolin Project) Author: Matthew H. Shirley, Orata Consulting, LLC Note: This report utilizes hyperlinks to outside studies, reports, articles, and websites. While these links are active as of document publishing, these links may change over time. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, the author of this study thanks the many respondents to the questionnaires, including Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Management Authorities and other governmental, non-governmental organization (NGO), and academic stakeholders. Without their input, much of this report and the draft recommendations for pangolin conservation in West Africa would not be possible. Similarly, without the herculean efforts of all the authors for the recently published Pangolins: Science, Society, and Conservation book, compiling much of the available information on pangolins in West and Central, and globally, would have been a much more difficult task. We thank Daniel Challender, Chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) Pangolin Specialist Group for his constant availability for helpful discussions and thought about pangolins and conservation in West Africa, and for his thorough review of a draft of this report. Michael Balinga deserves special recognition for motivating this work within United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC) program, and for his efforts reviewing drafts and compiling maps. Ichu Ichu Godwill and Keri Parker provided additional information on key regional stakeholders. Karim Abdul Firdaus and Kofi Panyin on the WA BiCC team created the maps throughout. Mary Molokwu and Wing Crawley provided very informative discussion about the state of conservation in Liberia, including additional information about the structure and function of the Species Working Group. We sincerely hope that the many stakeholders for pangolin conservation in West and Central Africa find this document, and the associated Issues Brief and Roadmap for Pangolin Conservation in West Africa, to be a solid springboard from which to launch pangolin conservation and management action in earnest in the region. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................... I LIST OF TABLES .....................................................................................................................II LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. III LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................. IV GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................................ VII EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..................................................................................................... VIII 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 STATEMENT OF NEED ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................................................................. 4 2.0 RESOURCES FOR WEST AFRICAN PANGOLINS ..................................................... 6 2.1 RESOURCE PERSONS ................................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 LITERATURE RESOURCES ............................................................................................................................ 6 3.0 STATE OF KNOWLEDGE ON WEST AFRICAN PANGOLINS ............................... 8 3.1 PANGOLIN SPECIES OF WEST AFRICA ..................................................................................................... 8 3.1.1 White-Bellied Pangolin (Phataginus tricupis) .......................................................................... 10 3.1.2 Black-Bellied Pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla) .................................................................... 16 3.1.3 Giant Pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) ............................................................................................ 21 3.2 CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF PANGOLINS IN WEST AFRICA ............................................................ 26 3.3 ACTIVE OR PLANNED RESEARCH AND OTHER INTERVENTIONS FOR PANGOLINS IN WEST AFRICA ....................................................................................................................................................... 33 3.3.1 Benin .............................................................................................................................................. 33 3.3.2 Côte d’Ivoire ................................................................................................................................ 33 3.3.3 Ghana ............................................................................................................................................. 34 3.3.4 Guinea ........................................................................................................................................... 35 3.3.5 Liberia ............................................................................................................................................ 35 3.3.6 Nigeria ........................................................................................................................................... 35 3.3.7 Togo ............................................................................................................................................... 36 3.3.8 Cameroon .................................................................................................................................... 36 3.3.9 Central African Republic ........................................................................................................... 37 3.3.10 Democratic Republic of Congo ............................................................................................... 37 3.3.11 Gabon ............................................................................................................................................ 37 3.3.12 Uganda ........................................................................................................................................... 38 3.4 BRIEF NOTE ON PANGOLINS, CORONAVIRUS, AND THE GLOBAL TRADE IN WILDLIFE ............... 38 4.0 STATE OF CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF WEST AFRICAN PANGOLINS ................................................................................................................... 40 4.1 ABUNDANCE AND POPULATION TRENDS OF PANGOLINS IN WEST AFRICA ................................. 40 4.1.1 Status of White-bellied Pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) ....................................................... 42 4.1.2 Status of Black-bellied Pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla) ................................................... 44 4.1.3 Status of Giant Pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) ........................................................................... 46 4.2 PANGOLINS IN PROTECTED AREAS IN WEST AFRICA ......................................................................... 48 4.3 LEGISLATION IN WEST AFRICAN RANGE STATES ................................................................................ 53 4.3.1 Naming Conventions in National and International Legislation ...................................... 53 4.3.2 Pangolins in CITES ...................................................................................................................... 53