The Takolokouzet Massif is located in the Aïr & Ténéré National Nature Reserve in Niger. It is home to some iconic species, including the Barbary sheep and the dama gazelle, one of the most endangered antelopes on the planet. It is on Takolokouzet’s plateaus that the reserve’s last dama gazelles find refuge from disturbance and growing human presence.
As part of its work to preserve the gazelle dama, SCF is using camera-traps to gather information on its distribution and seasonal movements.
In October this year, an SCF Niger team undertook a mission to Takolokouzet with two wildlife rangers and a community game guard recruited to monitor the camera-traps [RB1] set up in the field and to sensitize the people living in the area. One hundred and fifty kilometres were travelled on foot over rough terrain to retrieve data from the cameras and to move the grid to new areas tio complete the survey. The twelve cameras yielded several thousand photos.
During this mission, the team observed seven dama gazelles and made several other indirect observations of tracks and dung piles. Several herds of dorcas gazelle, with many calves, were also observed.
Although evidence of disturbance caused by gold panning was recorded there was luckily no sign of poaching. Although the number of remaining dama gazelles is very small, we are optimistic for their future thanks to good cooperation with the local people. We hope they will help protect the dama gazelles, one of the last three tiny remaining metapopulations of the species in the wild.
The dama gazelle (Nanger dama) is one of the most endangered antelopes in the world with a population estimated at less than 300 individuals scattered across a handful of small isolated groups in Chad, Niger, and possibly Mali (RZSS & IUCN, 2014). This species is in the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered (IUCN 2016), as well as in Appendix I of CITES and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
The National Nature Reserve of Aïr and Ténéré (RNNAT) is located in northern Niger in the Agadez region at the very center of the Saharan zone. The reserve is home to a rich wildlife, including the dama gazelle, but this wildlife has declined significantly due to civil unrest in the region, the last one occurring from 2007 to 2010.
In order to conserve the Sahelo-Saharan fauna and this endangered species, the NGO Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) decided to install camera traps to collect information about the presence and movements of the dama gazelle in the southern part of the reserve.
In January 2017, thirteen camera traps were installed by the SCF-Niger team in the Aïr Mountains, using the latest standardized methods to assess the relative abundance and presence of a species, through a grid divided in 4 km2 basic units. It is a large area to cover and the accidental terrain is difficult to access – a 5 to 6 day-trekking is necessary to install the set of cameras.
In 2018, after collecting the data from the camera memory cards and changing their batteries, the traps were moved (still in the Aïr Mountains), to extend the monitoring area. Within the grid, two criteria were systematically applied to identify the right spots to install the camera traps: indirect sightings (tracks and dung piles of dama gazelles) and a safe location for the cameras. A community game guard has been recruited amongst the local population to monitor the camera traps. One year later, no traps were damaged or stolen, proving the efficiency of the guard surveillance and awareness raising activities towards local communities. Other community game guards will be recruited in the near future to provide surveillance in eastern and northern parts of the mountain range and sensitize the people using the areas – mainly herders, but also gold panners. Once they are recruited, new camera traps can be installed and the monitoring area enlarged.
The SCF-Niger team has so far carried out three missions in this refuge zone for Saharan wildlife, consisting in setting up and moving the camera traps, as well as collecting their data. The main objective was to improve the knowledge on the distribution of this isolated population of Dama gazelles in northern Niger, but also to assess the occurrence of other threatened species such as the Dorcas gazelle or the Barbary sheep.
Among the species detected by the traps (other than a Patas monkey and some small carnivores such as the Rüppell’s fox or wild cat), the most abundant species are Dorcas and Dama gazelles, with a 90% presence probability at any point of the grid for the Dorcas and 60% probability for the Dama, only 30% for the Barbary sheep. These figures may vary in relation to the grid’s extension but they highlight the importance of this area for the conservation of Dama gazelle in the wild.
Addax and dama gazelle were formerly distributed widely across the Sahara and Sahel. A catastrophic decline has taken place, especially during the last 40 years, that has brought both species close to extinction in the wild. Wild populations of addax and dama gazelle are now limited to a tiny number of small fragments of their historical range in Niger and Chad.
Addax and dama gazelle are listed on Appendix I of CITES and CMS. Both species are listed as Critically Endangered (the highest category of threat) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS
A workshop was held at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland in November 2013 to review and discuss key issues for dama gazelle conservation. This resulted in an updated status review and a conservation road map with draft recommendations and proposed priority actions (RZSS & IUCN Antelope Specialist Group 2014). Another workshop took place at the Zoological Society of London in July 2016 to examine options for the restoration of addax in Chad and Niger.
REGIONAL ACTIONS
A workshop took place in N’Djaména, Chad, on 24-25 April 2017 to develop a 2017-2022 regional action plan for the remaining wild populations of addax and dama gazelle in Niger and Chad. More precisely, the goal is to protect key populations of Addax in Chad and Niger using coordinated trans-boundary actions to improve knowledge and protection and where appropriate use reinforcement and reintroduction to increase population size and connectivity in natural range.The workshop was held under the auspices of IUCN/SSC Antelope Specialist Group and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the two national agencies DFCAP (Niger) and DCFAP (Chad) and was organized and funded by Noé.
Three very large protected areas are playing a key role in protection of the remaining populations of both species:
– Termit & Tin Toumma National Nature Reserve in Niger,
– Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Game Reserve in Chad.
The government agencies (DFCAP in Niger and DCFAP in Chad) are fully engaged in the conservation of both species.
IN THE FIELD
Several projects and international organizations have been engaged in survey, monitoring and community sensitization. These include: the SCF Pan-Sahara Wildlife Survey; Projet Antilopes Sahélo-Sahariennes, operated by CMS and implemented by Sahara Conservation Fund in close collaboration with the Zoological Society of London, and Projet d’appui à la gestion durable d’aires protégées sahélo-sahariennes, Niger et Tchad (Project of support for sustainable management of protected areas in Niger and Chad) implemented by Noé, in partnership with DCFAP, DFCAP and SCF.
On the research side, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland is leading an ongoing research project into the genetics of addax and dama gazelle (wild and captive populations), in collaboration with organizations working in the field, zoo associations like Al Ain Zoo and others.
A STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN
The strategic action plan highlights three main priorities to save these two species:
– The first priority is to prevent the loss of more animals from the wild by ensuring effective protection from poaching at key sites and also extending protection to habitat, notably by establishing undisturbed zones away from water wells and livestock.
– The second one is to keep strong and effective links with the populations on site. Working with local communities who share the habitat and use the same pastures is essential to long-term success of conservation programs. Several agreements in TTTNNR have been signed by the traditional local and administrative authorities, including the Déclaration de Dolé (2007) and Déclaration de Dougoulé (2010).
The Doungoumi Declaration was signed in December 2016 by leaders of the 65 communities in and around TTTNNR and contains a commitment to protect wildlife and includes collaboration on removal of unauthorized wells: this agreement could serve as a model for elsewhere in the region.
– It is impossible to plan effectively without accurate knowledge of the status of the two species. Establishing the fate of the largest addax population in Termit & Tin Toumma – whether it has been dispersed or greatly reduced, and locating remaining animals – is an urgent priority, as is establishing the extent and frequency of movement between sites. Monitoring programmes for all populations of addax and dama gazelle should be continued and expanded where feasible, using standardised protocols. It is also important to expand the current genetic research on the wild and captive populations of both species.
NEXT STEPS
SCF and its partners will work together to raise funds and implement the priority actions defined by the action plan, including the possibility to reintroduce and reinforce the wild population of dama gazelle and addax in the near future.
