The WAP complex of protected areas straddling the border areas of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger is one of the most important protected areas in West Africa and a haven for many iconic and endangered species. The WAP complex is also home to servals, caracals, and African wildcats. However, little is known about its status, distribution, ecology, and threats. Covert investigations into the area’s pharmaceutical markets have uncovered serval and caracal skins, but it is unclear whether the skins were produced within the WAP complex. This area has serious implications for conservation and research, especially in the Niger and Burkina Faso parts of the complex.See all ideas that matter
The border area between Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso is home to West Africa’s largest network of unspoiled nature reserves. The W-Arry-Pendjari (WAP) complex is a mosaic of gallery forest, savannah and riparian habitats, and is home to some of the region’s most iconic species, including the West African lion (Panthera leo leo) and the savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana). is the last refuge of many. ) and the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus).
With so much emphasis on protecting these endangered and beloved species, small cats can easily get lost. The WAP complex is home to three species of small cats: the serval (Leptailurus serval), the caracal (Caracal caracal), and the African wildcat (Felis lybica). All three species have a conservation status of least concern on the IUCN Red List, but there are few hard facts about the WAP complex or their abundance in West Africa. With continued insecurity in the region and little funding for small cat research, these species are at risk of falling further into obscurity.
“If I had to sum up the situation of small cats in WAP (and West Africa in general) in one word, I would say that we know very little about small cats and the threats they face. “That’s true,” said Marine Druilly, a regional carnivore warden. West and Central Africa coordinator for cat-focused NGO Panthera told Mongabay in an email. “There is a huge lack of research into all aspects of their ecology, from their distribution to population dynamics, ecology, and relationships with humans.”
A serval carrying a genet in Benin’s Pendjari National Park. Servals are easily recognized by their long legs, slim body, and large ears. It is widely distributed throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa, but is absent from tropical rainforests and parts of southern Africa. Little is known about their status in West Africa, but like other spotted cats, they may be at risk from the wildlife trade. Image by African Parks Team Pendjari, with technical support from Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
At the heart of the WAP complex are three highly protected areas: Pendjari National Park in Benin, Airy National Park in Burkina Faso, and W Regional Park, which straddles the Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger border areas. Together, these parks and adjacent hunting areas, wildlife reserves, and other protected areas cover an area of 34,000 square kilometers (13,100 square miles). Approximately half of the central area is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The region has been plagued by insecurity for the past few years. Jihadists are based in the Burkina Faso and Niger parts of the complex, and violence is increasingly spilling over into Benin. African Parks, the South African-based organization that manages Pendjari National Park and the Benin part of the Western world, still carries out biological monitoring activities, but African Parks marketing and communications coordinator Jack Kugbady said: He says conservation efforts have become difficult and dangerous.
Much of what we know about small cats here comes from camera surveys of other species, such as leopards (Panthera pardus) and cheetahs, Druilly said. All three species of small cats were detected in biennial camera trap surveys in Pendjari National Park over the past five years, but it was not safe to survey other parks at the time. The latest data for Airy National Park and the Burkina Faso and Niger parts of the W Regional Park are from surveys conducted from 2016 to 2018. A 2019 study found that all three species were recorded at the time, although their abundance was relatively low. .
Benin’s Pendjari National Park is part of the W-Arry-Pendjari Complex (WAP), a mosaic of protected areas spanning Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. The complex is one of the largest unspoiled natural areas in West Africa, but armed group activity, particularly in the Ari and West regions, is an ongoing challenge. Image by African Parks Team Pendjari, with technical support from Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
Druilly said small cats are unlikely to be doing particularly well in Airlie and West Parks, where human encroachment and livestock grazing continue to be problems.
Encroachment and habitat degradation are generally not big problems in Pendjari National Park, said Ettepe Sogbohossou, head of the environment department at Egypt's Senghor University. And in the Benin part of the W, conditions improved after African Parks took over management in 2020.
But it’s difficult to know how the current unrest within the WAP, particularly in Burkina Faso and Niger, is directly impacting small cats, said Sogbohossou, a carnivore researcher at the WAP complex. says. The presence of terrorists may have driven local populations from protected areas, reducing incursions. On the other hand, poachers may move in and, although they are likely to focus on big cats, they may opportunistically kill smaller cats as well.
But overall, the poor security situation makes working in the park extremely difficult and dangerous. Sogbohossu used to supervise students working on field projects in the area, but says he is now reluctant to send students there.
“Before, you could go anywhere in the park, but now you can’t,” she says.
Caracal in Pendjari National Park, Benin. Weighing between 6 and 18 kg (13 and 40 lb), caracals are Africa’s largest small cat. They are widely distributed in a variety of habitats, but are not found in rainforests or true deserts. It is thought to be less common in West Africa than in other parts of Africa. Image by African Parks Team Pendjari, with technical support from Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
One of the ongoing threats to servals, and perhaps caracals, is the wildlife trade. According to a 2024 study, researchers discovered both serval and caracal skins during covert investigations into pharmaceutical markets in Benin and Niger in 2017 and 2019. However, it was not possible to confirm whether the skins came from within the WAP complex. The study also found that the most common medium- and large-sized carnivores were lion skin and body parts, rather than small cats.
“Like other spotted cats, servals are likely to be targeted for their skin, since it was body parts that were found in markets,” said study co-author and author of the African Cheetah Conservancy. said Audrey Ipavec, the initiative’s regional coordinator. Zoological Society of London (ZSL). She points out that serval skin could be used as an alternative to leopard and cheetah skins, which are highly valued by many cultures in the region.
Druilly and his colleagues conducted similar research on markets in Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. Serval and caracal skins and domestic cat skins were also found, but these were less common than lion and leopard products.
Druilly said other threats to small cats in the area include overgrazing by livestock and the annual burning of grasslands. This can reduce small mammal populations and make it difficult for cats to find the prey they need. Servals may be particularly vulnerable to habitat loss because they rely on wetlands within their primary range, Druilly said.
The W-Arry-Pendjari complex covers an area of 34,000 square kilometers (13,100 square miles) and is home to 85% of West Africa’s savannah elephants, 90% of the region’s lion population, the last surviving population of cheetahs, and numerous We protect little-known species. Including a small cat. Image retrieved from Google Earth on October 2, 2024.
Habitat loss also forces small cats into close contact with humans, putting them at risk of retaliatory killings through predation on poultry and being run over on roads, and indirectly reducing small cats. endangers. Or people may kill them opportunistically, hoping to make money from their skins or simply out of fear, Sogbohossou says.
Funding for small cat research and conservation remains a barrier. Sogbohossou says it’s difficult for researchers to attract funding for species that aren’t globally threatened, especially in Africa where resources are tight. However, it is also important to consider the regional status of a species and strive to conserve the genetic diversity that occurs across the species’ range. Widely distributed species such as servals, caracals, and African wildcats are less likely to be threatened globally, but are still at risk of local extinction.
African Park’s Kugbadi says more research is needed on small cats, including their role in the ecosystem and how they help control pests in the agricultural areas surrounding the park. But that requires research funding.
“The first step is to carry out an assessment of the status of the species…then, if the security situation allows, we can deploy on-the-ground conservation interventions,” Druilly said.
Banner image: An African ocelot in the Kalahari Border Park, South Africa. Little is known about the threats facing African wildcats in West Africa, but throughout their range they are at risk of interbreeding and the transmission of diseases from domestic cats. Image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
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Harris, NC, Mills, KL, Harissou, Y., Hema, EM, Gnoumu, IT, VanZoeren, J., … Doamba, B. (2019). First camera surveys in Burkina Faso and Niger reveal human pressures on mammal communities within West Africa’s largest protected area complex. Conservation Letters, 12(5). doi:10.1111/conl.12667.
Gerstenhaber, C., Ipavec, A., Lapeyre, V., Plowman, C., Chabi-N’Diaye, Y., Tevoedjre, F., … Durant, S. M. (2024). Illegal wildlife trade: An analysis of carnivore products found in markets in Benin and Niger. Global Ecology and Conservation, 51. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2024.e02880.
