Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzee

Increased attention to the Nigeria-Cameroon (NC) chimpanzee is vitally important for conserving the standing genetic, behavioral, and cultural diversity of the species.

The NC chimpanzee is one of four chimpanzee subspecies. Habitat encroachment, intense pressure from the bushmeat trade, dismal levels of wildlife law enforcement, and history combine to create a dire situation for these apes. It was only in 1997 that the NC chimpanzee was resurrected as a subspecies (Gonder et al. 1997), and in 2009, it was given the scientific name Pan troglodytes ellioti (Oates et al. 2009). A small flurry of population surveys then ensued — revealing that ~3,500-9,000 individuals remain today. This history has left the NC chimpanzee as the least understood of all subspecies.

Cameroon harbors two of the four chimpanzee subspecies, and it is where the two main branches of the chimpanzee evolutionary tree meet (Prado Martinez, Sudmant et al. 2013). P. t. troglodytes occurs south of the Sanaga River, while P. t. ellioti occurs north of the Sanaga in central Cameroon. Mbam & Djerem National Park (MDNP) is the only location where migrants are occasionally exchanged between the two branches of the tree.

P. t. ellioti is further subdivided into two genetically- and behaviorally- distinctive populations (Abwe et al. 2019, 2020; Sesink Clee et al. 2015). One population (purple) is localized to mountainous forested areas of western Cameroon. The second population (green) is found only in the ecotone region of central Cameroon — and it persists in the largest numbers at MDNP.  Relatively little is known about the status of NC chimpanzees overall, which impairs effective conservation planning, especially in this ecotone region. These factors make MDNP and especially Ganga Station an important location for intensified conservation measures.