This park is situated in the plains of Benoué 

 river at the foot of the Adamaoua plateau. The 

 dry season when grasses have dried up, the 

 vegetation is more open. BNP experiences 5 

 months of rain and 7 months of dry season. 

 Mean annual temperature is 24°C and annual 

 precipitation is around 1000 mm. December 

 is the coldest month (min: 13°C-max: 32°C) 

 and April the hottest (min: 23°C-max: 36°C). 

 Soils are granites in the south west of 

 Adamawa. Benoué lies on sedimentary soils 

 as plains in the South/East are littered by 

 inselbergs and small hills. The vegetation is 

 composed of Isoberlinia doka, Burkea 

 africana, Anogeissus leiocarpus, Terminalia 

 macroptera, Isoberlinia daljelii. Dominant 

 trees include: Afzelia africana, Borrasus 

 aethiopum, Butyrospermum parkii, Daniella 

 oliveri, Monotes spp., Uapaca detarium, 

 Vitex doniana, Lophira lanceolata, Parkia 

 biglobosa, Boswellia spp., Prosopis africana, 

 Sterculia setigera, Cassia sieberana, Kigelia 

 africana, Ziziphus spp., Piliostigma 

 thoningii, Pterocarpus erinaceus with 260 

 species of superior vegetation species 

 identified. Benoué National Park is situated 

 just off the Ngaoundere-Garoua main road, 

 with rich fauna, including populations of buffalo, hippopotamus, crocodiles, hyenas, giraffes, panthers, 

 lions and a variety of primates. The park can be visited all year round. Of the 28 hunting zones in the 

 north of Cameroon 8, belong to the Benoué National Park, 2 of which have been given to private 

 operators. 



Figure 1 GIS Map of Benoue National Paric showing the distribution of Derby Eland 



METHOD 



Inventory of Derby Elands and other big games was done during the dry season in the months of January 

 to April 2005 . The method used was that of walk (counting while walking on foot the species dung along 

 a line transect) and direct observation of the animal (Hochachka, 2000). Line transects were marked out 

 using prepared geographical information systems (GIS) maps of the BNP at intervals of 7km, and length 

 of 500m interspersed by reeky transects of 1500m. The estimate of encounter rate which is a bio- 

 indicator of the frequency with which a game watcher or sharp shooter will easily come in contact with 

 the species while covering a specific distance was measured with the kilometric index (KI), KI is got by 

 dividing the number of directly observed species by the total distance covered. As a general rule when 

 the kilometric index of abundance (IKA) is less than 0.3 - it is weak; between 0.3 and 0.5 - average and 

 greater than 0.5 - high (based on sufficient frequency contact with animals) Vincent et al. ( 1 99 1 ). 



The average weight of animals' species is calculated from standard weights of male and female. An 

 average weight multiplied by the number of animal species observed gives the biomass. The total 

 biomass of all big game species is calculated as well as percentage contribution by each species to the 

 total biomass. Therefore, the biomass per hectare can be determined since the total surface area of BNP 

 is known. 



The annual monetary (US $) value was projected by multiplying four months revenue estimated during 

 the study period by a factor of 3. These estimates made use of the populations of animals observed 

 directly multiplied by the cost of harvesting or shooting one animal species by sport hunters stipulations 

 in the text and certificate (Delegation of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MINEF) Garoua, 

 Cameroon (2005) i 



Nature & Faune Vol. 23, Issue 1 



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