An Integrated Assessment of Anthropogenic and Ecological Threats to Pangolin Survival in Takamanda National Park, Southwest Region of Cameroon

Abstract

Pangolins are the world’s most trafficked wild mammals, yet cryptic behaviours hinder the localised, empirical data necessary for effective conservation management. This study provides an integrated assessment of ecological and anthropogenic threats facing three pangolin species (Phataginus tricuspis, P. tetradactyla, and Smutsia gigantea) within Takamanda National Park, Cameroon. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, we triangulated decades of remote sensing data with local ecological knowledge (LEK) and focus group datasets. Land use/land cover analysis revealed severe habitat fragmentation, with critical dense forest cover declining by 10.34% (6890.83/ha) between 2013 and 2023, driven primarily by inward agricultural encroachment from enclave villages.  Logistic regression models confirmed intense pangolin avoidance behaviour toward human activity, revealing powerful deterrent relationships with bush huts (OR = 0.049, p = 0.003) and wire snares (OR = 0.441, p = 0.001). Socio-economic profiles identified pervasive local consumption 80% of respondents have consumed pangolin meat and acute poverty (88.7%) fuelling a highly commercialized bushmeat trade, alongside an active, transnational scale trafficking pipeline driven by foreign traders (5.3%). This immediate hunting pressure is severely compounded by governance deficits arising from the nearly a decade long regional Anglophone Crisis, zero baseline cultural taboos protecting the species, and critical biological misconceptions regarding reproductive rates in high-encroachment zones. Eventually, 28.6% of communities attribute perceived declines in poaching strictly to species scarcity. Reversing this trend requires an immediate transition from reactive enforcement to multi-faceted, community-led management that pairs customary legal integration with sustainable cocoa-livelihood interventions.