Characterization of the Habitat of the Western Derby Eland (Taurotragus derbianus derbianus Gray, 1847) in Relation to Climate Change within Niokolo Koba Narional Park (Senegal), its Last Wild Refuge

Abstract

Endemic to West Africa, the Western Derby Eland (WDE) (Taurotragus derbianus derbianus Gray, 1847) the biggest antelope worldwide is critically endangered and close to extinction. This study aims to characterize the habitat of the WDE in its last wild refuge the Niokolo Koba National Park (NKNP), Senegal. This research was based on semi-structured interviews, remote sensing, woody plants inventory and modelling the distribution of the plants species consumed (PSC). Interviews revealed that the confinement area of the WDE is at the Centre-Eastern part of the NKNP where 50 trees species belonging to 40 genera and 29 families were recorded. Analysis of time series Landsat images showed that savanna vegetation dominated the land cover of the confinement area of the WDE. From 1973-2013 tree-savanna, gallery forest and bamboo forest increased by 11.35 %, 12.30 % and 13.36% respectively while shrub savanna and shrubtree savanna decreased by 34.09% and 3.11 %, respectively. The current potential distribution of PSC showed that 30.26 %, 54.75%, 24.56 %, 25.55 % and 43.69 % of the park’s extent are suitable habitats for Boscia angustifolia A. Rich., Grewia bicolor Juss., Hymenocardia acida Tul., Strychnos spinosa Lam. and Zyzyphus mauritiana Lam., respectively. However, GFDLESM, HadGEM2-ES and MPI-ESM-LR models predicted that on the five PSC B. angustifolia A. Rich., H. acida Juss. and S. spinosa Lam. would encounter an increase of their unsuitable areas or even extinction by the end of this century. This combined with the increase of woody vegetation could in turn impact negatively the survival of the WDE. Therefore, we highly recommend setting in-situ enclosures for its conservation. In addition, future research, using telemetric tools, should identify the full and home range, the total population and the ethology of the WDE in NKNP.