concerning the impact of roads on duiker distribution. Small diurnal monkeys are found far from the 

 villages and between 3 and 1 km from the main roads. Hyemoschus aquaticus. Pan troglodytes. Gorilla 

 Gorilla, Atherurus africanus, Syncerus coffer and Potamochoerus porcus, show no negative 

 relationship with distance to roads and were regularly observed close to villages. In our study site, 

 elephants were found equally near to or far from roads. This is contrary to what Blom et al. (2004) 

 demonstrated in a Dzanga-Sangha where elephants avoided the proximity of roads. According to Barnes 

 et al. ( 1 99 1 ), elephants are attracted by secondary forests given the diversity of available food resources. 



Past and present logging activity signs can be found all over the concession, apparently without 

 significantly affecting the distribution of mammals. In Kibale Forest (Uganda), C monticola seemed 

 particularly affected by forest logging activities (Struhsaker, 1998) but this was not the case in our site. 

 At Lope (Gabon), densities of Pan troglodytes dropped about 20% after logging (white, 1998). In our 

 study site, where logging has been more or less continuous since the 50's, Pan troglodytes is still present 

 and does not seem to avoid logged over areas. 



Our study shows that mammal surveys carried out during routine forest inventories can be used to 

 highlight the relationships between fauna, habitat and human activities. These results provide important 

 recommendations for managers and help limit the negative impacts of logging activities on wildlife. The 

 road network seems to be at the heart of the problem since hunting intensity is strongly correlated with 

 distance to roads. An optimal plarming of the road network limits the direct negative impacts while a 

 better control of access limits commercial hunting activities. 



The results of this study show that some common game species {xwdimXy Atherurus africanus but also C. 

 monticola ) are resilient to human pressure such as habitat degradation or hunting . A sustainable hunting 

 management plan could be considered for such species so as to satisfy local people's needs. On the other 

 hand, for vulnerable species, such as Pan troglodytes, a monitoring program should ensure the 

 maintenance of its diversity within the logging concessions. 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: 



We would like to thank the Compagnie des Bois du Gabon (CBG), which kindly accepted to share the 

 database used in this study. We also thank Benoit Démarquez and Cyril Pelissier from TEREA for the 

 elaboration of the Geographical Information System that was used to build mammal distribution maps 

 and for their relevant comments on this paper. 



REFERENCES 



Tutin C.E.G., Porteous I.S., Wilkie D.S., Nasi R. (2001). Comment minimiser l'impact de l'exploitation 

 forestière sur la faune dans le Bassin du Congo. Libreville: ADIE. 



Barnes RFW, Barnes KL, Alers MPT, Blom A ( 1 99 1 ) Man determines the distribution of elephants in the 

 rain forest. African Journal of Ecology, 29: 54-63 



Blom A,van Zalinge R Mbea E, Heitkonig IMA, Prins HHT (2004) Human impact on wildlife 

 populations within a protected Central African forest. African Journal of Ecology, 42: 23-3 1 



Laurance WF, Croes BM, Tchignoumba L, Lahm SA, Alonso A, Lee ME, Campbell P, Ondzeano C 

 (2006) Impacts of Roads and Hunting on Central African Rainforest Mammals. Conservation Biology, 

 20(4): 1251-1261 



Nature & Faune Vol. 23, Issue 1 14 



