Research Article
Survey on the Movements and migration corridors of Loxodonta africana cyclotis (Proboscidea: Mammalia) in the Monzo Forest of Bosobolo Territory (Nord-Ubangi Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua, Médard Molongo Mokondande, Narcisse Basosila Bolamba, Divin Malekani Vuakere, Clarisse Falanga Mawi, Modeste Ndaba Modeawi, Emmanuel Moke Lengbiye, Colette Masengo Ashande, Orcy Amogu Domondo, Ruphin Djolu Djoza, Bertin Libwa Momi Tabonge, Bruno Muwuyo Yalengozo
Corresponding Author : Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua
Ubangi BioXplore project, University of Gbado-Lite, Gbado-Lite, Nord Ubangi Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Email ID : jpngbolua@unikin.ac.cd
Received : 2020-05-02 Accepted : 2020-06-23 Published : 2020-06-23
Abstract : Recent findings revealed that 90% of elephants are decreased, mainly due to hunting for ivory and the rapid expansion of human activities both in protected and non-protected areas including trans-boundary regions. Habitat fragmentation is also a problem faced by many species all over the world due to human activities. The aim this study is to carry out a survey on the movements and migration corridors of Loxodonta africana cyclotis in the Monzo Forest of Bosobolo Territory, Nord-Ubangi Province the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The present study was carried out into three steps: pre-survey (which consists in questioning the Territory Administrator, the heads of sectors and the supervisor of the Territorial Environment Service), survey (on 100 hunters and 100 farmers) and in situ biomonitoring to search elephant indices through the transect technique. The following parameters were taken into account in the survey: The presence of elephant (movement and migration corridors) via indices like dung density, field damage; the level of encounters with elephants; the migration season; the cause of extinction and regular migrations. Results revealed that the majority of respondents have over 5 years of experience in elephant hunting. Among these hunters 64.4% are active and 35.5% inactive. The main livelihood activity was agriculture (53.3%). 84.4% of the respondents encountered live elephants or their dung. The intense frequencies of elephant were observed from 1997 to 2002 while elephant disappearance was certified from 2002 to 2012 and the reappearance confirmed from 2012 to 2017 (90%). From 1997 to 2017, 16.6% of respondents thank that hunters killed 1 to 25 elephant heads while 14.4% of respondents reveal that hunters killed more than 100 heads during this period. The mobility is high in January and from June to December and moderate from February to May. The conservation of these mammals and their habitat would be of great importance, as elephants play a very important ecological role in the forests, particularly in maintaining high productivity. It is therefore necessary to zoning the site in order to obtain precise geographical coordinates of the migration corridors of elephant in the Monzo Forest; to install camera traps for the monitoring of elephant and to access the population size.
Keywords : Forest, biodiversity conservation, Loxodonta africana cyclotis, Nord Ubangi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Citation : Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua et al. (2020). Survey on the Movements and migration corridors of Loxodonta africana cyclotis (Proboscidea: Mammalia) in the Monzo Forest of Bosobolo Territory (Nord-Ubangi Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo). J. of Advanced Botany and Zoology, V8I1.01. DOI : 10.5281/zenodo.3906350
Copyright : © 2020 Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Journal of Advanced Botany and Zoology
ISSN : 2348-7313
Volume 8 / Issue 1
ScienceQ Publishing Group
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Reviewer Comments : # Reviewer 1:
The manuscript "Survey on the Movements and migration corridors of Loxodonta africana cyclotis (Proboscidea: Mammalia) in the Monzo Forest of Bosobolo Territory (Nord-Ubangi Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo)" is a classic work of nature conservation with results of a very interesting approach. Authors have done a lot of work and analysis, and some has certain practical value.
Professor Alain Kamika Ilunga
University of Gbado-Lite: Democratic Republic of the Congo & University of South Africa: School of Environmental Sciences, Republic of South Africa.
#Reviewer 2:
This study focused on the presence of elephants in the Nord Ubangi Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, known as a priority area for biodiversity conservation. The article proposes the conservation of elephants and their habitat as a strategy for the sustainable development of the villages bordering the Monzo forest in the Bosobolo territory. For this, additional studies are necessary to obtain the geographical coordinates of the elephant migration corridor.
Professor Pius T. Mpiana
University of Kinshasa: Faculty of Science, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
#Reviewer 3:
It is a very interesting scientific work concerning the management and protection of biodiversity for sustainable development the Bosobolo territory in the province of Nord Ubangi. This manuscript proposes the creation of a protected reserve in this area to conserve the elephant and it habitat (migration corridors) in order to reduce the human negative impact.
Professor Jeff Bekomo Iteku
University of Kinshasa: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
