Ganvoedjre Mahutin Bruno
The Republic of Guinea was considered to be home to the largest population of common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) in West Africa, with approximately 2 000 individuals (Eltringham 1999). In 2017, Lewison & Pluháček estimated this population at only 500 individuals throughout the country, confirming the alarming decline in the population of this species in recent years in the Republic of Guinea. The Upper Niger National Park (UNNP), with an estimated population of 100 individuals, is considered the most important protected area for the conservation of the common hippopotamus in Guinea (Brugière et al., 2006). However, Brugiere's study dates back to 2001 and remains the most recent on this species. Furthermore, the CCC’s 2025 camera trap surveys regarding the mammalian community in the same study area did not provide conclusive data on the status of the hippopotamus, as it focused exclusively on the forest ecosystems of the study area, whereas the common hippopotamus is almost absent from these habitats (Eltringham, 1993; Lewison, 2011). There is therefore no data on the population dynamics of this emblematic species in the UNNP.
While the human population around the UNNP is growing rapidly and rice is the main crop of the riverside population, 95% of whom are farmers (UNNP, 2024), the floodplains that constitute the hippopotamus grazing areas are occupied by rice fields in the buffer zone (Brugière et al., 2006). This represents the major threat to this species in the area and makes human-hippopotamus conflicts likely. This project aims to use an integrated approach including local ecological knowledge, boat counting, and camera trapping to fill gaps in knowledge about the conservation status of hippos in UNNP. Specifically, it will essentially involve (i) assessing the local ecological knowledge on hippos in Upper Niger landscape, (ii) determining the hippopotamus population size in the UNNP, and (iii) estimating the home range of hippos in the buffer zone of the Mafou sector in UNNP.