Local Ecological Knowledge Insights Into the Distribution and Activity Patterns of Temminck's Pangolin in Ruaha Landscape, Tanzania
ABSTRACT Tanzania is home to three species of pangolins: Temminck's pangolin (Smutsia temminckii), giant ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), and white‐bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis). However, distribution and habitat preferences have yet to be well known across the Ruaha landscape, enc...
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Wiley
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71987 |
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| author | Rose Peter Kicheleri Courtney Hughes Michael Honorati Kimaro Charles Peter Mgeni Nyemo Amos Chilagane Hillary Thomas Mrosso Simon Joshua Chidodo Fenrick Filbert Msigwa Elisante Azaeli Kimambo Rajabu Joseph Kangile George Bunyata Bulenga Camille Warbington |
| author_facet | Rose Peter Kicheleri Courtney Hughes Michael Honorati Kimaro Charles Peter Mgeni Nyemo Amos Chilagane Hillary Thomas Mrosso Simon Joshua Chidodo Fenrick Filbert Msigwa Elisante Azaeli Kimambo Rajabu Joseph Kangile George Bunyata Bulenga Camille Warbington |
| author_sort | Rose Peter Kicheleri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Tanzania is home to three species of pangolins: Temminck's pangolin (Smutsia temminckii), giant ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), and white‐bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis). However, distribution and habitat preferences have yet to be well known across the Ruaha landscape, encompassing the core of Ruaha National Park and adjacent protected and unprotected village lands. This area is thought to hold Temminck's pangolin. Drawing upon local knowledge to help inform conservation planning, we used semi‐structured interviews among village members to investigate the distribution and activity pattern of Temminck's pangolins in the Ruaha landscape. Our results show that village lands hold potential habitats for pangolins, and unsurprisingly, that human land use by activity type and human behavior itself influences pangolin observations across the landscape, more so than pangolin ecology. We also learned that more than half of our study's participants did not perceive a decreasing population trend in pangolins over 5 years, despite reports from authorities. Our study provides novel and important baseline information about the distribution of pangolins in the Ruaha landscape, which can be used for spatially relevant conservation planning at local and national scales. Given their willingness to share local knowledge about pangolins and participate in pangolin conservation, we suggest that village members be actively engaged in pangolin conservation efforts, including training on monitoring and reporting pangolin population and distribution, and assisting in habitat management. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e2eb388e439a4e2398d8059116099122 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-e2eb388e439a4e2398d80591160991222025-08-20T03:46:33ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-08-01158n/an/a10.1002/ece3.71987Local Ecological Knowledge Insights Into the Distribution and Activity Patterns of Temminck's Pangolin in Ruaha Landscape, TanzaniaRose Peter Kicheleri0Courtney Hughes1Michael Honorati Kimaro2Charles Peter Mgeni3Nyemo Amos Chilagane4Hillary Thomas Mrosso5Simon Joshua Chidodo6Fenrick Filbert Msigwa7Elisante Azaeli Kimambo8Rajabu Joseph Kangile9George Bunyata Bulenga10Camille Warbington11Tanzania Research and Conservation Organization Morogoro TanzaniaTanzania Research and Conservation Organization Morogoro TanzaniaTanzania Research and Conservation Organization Morogoro TanzaniaTanzania Research and Conservation Organization Morogoro TanzaniaTanzania Research and Conservation Organization Morogoro TanzaniaTanzania Research and Conservation Organization Morogoro TanzaniaSokoine University of Agriculture Morogoro TanzaniaTanzania Research and Conservation Organization Morogoro TanzaniaTanzania Research and Conservation Organization Morogoro TanzaniaTanzania Research and Conservation Organization Morogoro TanzaniaTanzania Research and Conservation Organization Morogoro TanzaniaTanzania Research and Conservation Organization Morogoro TanzaniaABSTRACT Tanzania is home to three species of pangolins: Temminck's pangolin (Smutsia temminckii), giant ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), and white‐bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis). However, distribution and habitat preferences have yet to be well known across the Ruaha landscape, encompassing the core of Ruaha National Park and adjacent protected and unprotected village lands. This area is thought to hold Temminck's pangolin. Drawing upon local knowledge to help inform conservation planning, we used semi‐structured interviews among village members to investigate the distribution and activity pattern of Temminck's pangolins in the Ruaha landscape. Our results show that village lands hold potential habitats for pangolins, and unsurprisingly, that human land use by activity type and human behavior itself influences pangolin observations across the landscape, more so than pangolin ecology. We also learned that more than half of our study's participants did not perceive a decreasing population trend in pangolins over 5 years, despite reports from authorities. Our study provides novel and important baseline information about the distribution of pangolins in the Ruaha landscape, which can be used for spatially relevant conservation planning at local and national scales. Given their willingness to share local knowledge about pangolins and participate in pangolin conservation, we suggest that village members be actively engaged in pangolin conservation efforts, including training on monitoring and reporting pangolin population and distribution, and assisting in habitat management.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71987communityconservationdistributionlocal knowledgeplanningTanzania |
| spellingShingle | Rose Peter Kicheleri Courtney Hughes Michael Honorati Kimaro Charles Peter Mgeni Nyemo Amos Chilagane Hillary Thomas Mrosso Simon Joshua Chidodo Fenrick Filbert Msigwa Elisante Azaeli Kimambo Rajabu Joseph Kangile George Bunyata Bulenga Camille Warbington Local Ecological Knowledge Insights Into the Distribution and Activity Patterns of Temminck's Pangolin in Ruaha Landscape, Tanzania Ecology and Evolution community conservation distribution local knowledge planning Tanzania |
| title | Local Ecological Knowledge Insights Into the Distribution and Activity Patterns of Temminck's Pangolin in Ruaha Landscape, Tanzania |
| title_full | Local Ecological Knowledge Insights Into the Distribution and Activity Patterns of Temminck's Pangolin in Ruaha Landscape, Tanzania |
| title_fullStr | Local Ecological Knowledge Insights Into the Distribution and Activity Patterns of Temminck's Pangolin in Ruaha Landscape, Tanzania |
| title_full_unstemmed | Local Ecological Knowledge Insights Into the Distribution and Activity Patterns of Temminck's Pangolin in Ruaha Landscape, Tanzania |
| title_short | Local Ecological Knowledge Insights Into the Distribution and Activity Patterns of Temminck's Pangolin in Ruaha Landscape, Tanzania |
| title_sort | local ecological knowledge insights into the distribution and activity patterns of temminck s pangolin in ruaha landscape tanzania |
| topic | community conservation distribution local knowledge planning Tanzania |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71987 |
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