Using camera trap data to characterise terrestrial larger-bodied mammal communities in different management sectors of the Dja Faunal Reserve, Cameroon

Camera trap surveys can be useful in characterising terrestrial larger-bodied mammal communities in Central Africa forests. Two 40-trap, minimum of 100 days, survey grids conducted in the Dja Faunal Reserve of southern Cameroon showed differences in the mammal communities of two sites 32 km apart. Mammal richness, diversity, guild structure, body-size patterns and relative abundance of taxa were measured by trapping rates and occupancy of the two mammal communities. One of the survey sites was (a) less rich in terrestrial mammal species; (b) missing disturbance-sensitive felids and white-bellied duiker (Cephalophus leucogaster, subsp, leucogaster, Gray, 1873); (c) greater in abundance of some disturbance-tolerant species; and (d) lower in abundance of larger-bodied species. Several indicators suggest a higher hunting pressure at this site, and this may be a contributing factor to these differences.