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Henschel, P.; Malanda, G.-A.; Hunter, L.
The status of savanna carnivores in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park, northern Republic of Congo
2014  Journal of Mammalogy (95): 882-892

The catchment of the Congo River basin contains an extensive forest-savanna mosaic, which once harbored significant populations of lions (_Panthera leo_), African wild dogs (_Lycaon pictus_), and spotted hyenas (_Crocuta crocuta_). The mosaic's northern part, stretching across the Republic of Congo and southern Gabon, is today geographically isolated. Uncontrolled hunting has led to a gradual decrease in its ungulate populations, and today African wild dogs are considered extinct within the Congo Basin. Lions and spotted hyenas suffered an extreme collapse of their respective former ranges, and in the Republic of Congo both species are believed to survive exclusively in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park (OKNP). We surveyed all extensive savanna areas within this park, to determine the current status of savanna carnivores. We conducted 460 km of track searches on foot, and operated 25 remote camera traps across the survey area over 424 trap-days. We detected no sign of lion presence in the park. Spotted hyena tracks were widespread, and our camera traps recorded 154 hyena photographs, representing 46 different individuals. We also recorded leopard (_Panthera pardus_), serval (_Leptailurus serval_), and African golden cat (_Caracal aurata_) within the survey area. Although lions are likely extinct in the Republic of Congo and neighboring Gabon, our results highlight the importance of OKNP for the regional conservation of spotted hyenas and smaller savanna carnivores.

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