Evaluation du statut de conservation des pangolins dans le Dahomey Gap à travers l'écologie spatiale et moléculaire, l'ethnozoologie et la génétique de conservation

Pangolins are on the top of conservation priority due mainly to their unprecedented level of harvesting. The four African species are under great gap of baseline data that hampers the set up of a well-designed, evidence-based strategy for tackling their alarming conservation status. My PhD dissertation focused on the biogeographically delineated Dahomey Gap region (West Africa) using the white-bellied pangolin as a case study to: (i) assess the geographic distribution and population trends of pangolin species across Benin, (ii) Model pangolin population extirpation rates using validated local ecological knowledge, (iii) assess the ethnozoological and commercial values of pangolins in Benin, (iv) investigate the population genetics of the white-bellied pangolin and set up the molecular tracing of their fine scale trade across the Dahomey Gap, and (v) assess the precise dietary composition of the white-bellied pangolin in Benin through eDNA metabarcoding. Local Ecological Knowledge revealed a 31 and 93 % contraction of the occurrence areas of the white-bellied and giant pangolins respectively, and highlighted habitat degradation and overexploitation as the main drivers of population decline for both species. Generalized linear model revealed that, abundance in 1998, distances from main roads and protected areas to villages, land use changes and deforestation over time were factors that significantly explained the current persistence of pangolins in Benin. Prediction models suggested decreasing trends for the white-bellied pangolin over the next two decades and a total extirpation of the giant pangolin whatever the scenario considered (deforestation versus no deforestation). Pangolins are valuable animals for local people and it occurs a regional trade network that involved Chinese diasporas. Pangolins in rural areas and traditional medicine markets are relatively cheaper in Benin compared to other countries in West and central Africa, but their price is 3-8 times higher when clients are from the Chinese diaspora. Microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA-based analyses suggested low genetic diversity, inbred populations, absence of clear geographic subdivision. Phylogenetic analysis suggested an endemic trade within the Dahomey Gap affecting the Dahomey Gap lineage of white-bellied pangolins and microsatellite markers pinpointed a long-distance trade within and between countries in the Dahomey Gap. The white-bellied pangolin preys mainly on ants and termites but also other insect taxa. The diversity of detected prey items was significantly higher (p