Wildlife-monitoring camera-traps have produced the first-ever photograph of chimpanzees inside Cameroon’s Douala-Edea National Park. And the picture doesn’t just show a single chimp – this photo reveals a mother carrying her baby, which proves that these amazing apes are breeding in the park.
The picture comes from camera traps installed by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the international scientific, conservation and educational charity who have projects currently running in more than 50 countries. The team will now install more camera traps in Douala-Edea National Park in the hope of learning and understanding more about the cimpanzees – and other wildlife – that call the park home.
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Chimpanzees are one of our closest living relatives, sharing 98% of our genetic DNA. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), are the only two species in the genus Pan – evolutionary biologists believe that humans, chimps and bonobos shared a common ancestor around 7 million years ago.
There are four confirmed subspecies of chimpanzee. The pair photographed here are Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti), and this subspecies is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The are at risk of extinction in the wild due to hunting and ongoing habitat loss from illegal timber exploitation, loss of land for farming, and bush fires thought to be exacerbated by climate change.
The other subspecies are Central chimpanzee (P. troglodytes troglodytes), Western chimpanzee (P. troglodytes verus) and Eastern chimpanzee (P. troglodytes schweinfurthii).
ZSL have been working alongside local experts across the Douala-Edéa and Lake Ossa Wildlife Reserves in Cameroon since 2014. Together with the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife (MINFOF), local NGOs and communities, ZSL help to protect species living in the forests and along the coast from over exportation and hunting through sustainable community-based initiatives, livelihood support, regular wildlife surveys, ranger support in Protected Areas and habitat restoration.
Find out more about ZSL’s presence and work in Cameroon.