Red-Flanked Duiker Cephalophus rufilatus Found in Bugungu Game Reserve, Uganda

Abstract

Figure 1. Distribution of red-flanked duiker (reproduced from Kingdon, 1982). The location of Uganda is outlined. The Albert Nile in north-west Uganda was thought to be the south-eastern limit of the range of the red-flanked duiker Cephalophus rufilatus (Figure 1) (Kingdon, 1988). Although this species is common and widely distributed in West African savannahs, it is restricted to West and Central Africa. The only records from East Africa are from the West Nile District of Uganda (Spinage, 1986; Kingdon, 1988). The red-flanked duiker was formerly widely distributed in this district but there have been no recent reports of its presence in this now heavily populated area (Kingdon, 1988). In the meN Regional Action Plan for Antelopes (East, 1988), the Ugandan population of red-flanked duiker was assigned to the 'Indeterminate' category due to lack of information for the West Nile District. It was, however, thought to be severely endangered or even extinct in the area and, therefore, the country. In April 1995, the coordinators of Frontier-Uganda visited Bugungu Game Reserve. An unknown duiker was observed and later identified as a red-flanked duiker. Later in April, Frontier-Uganda took a team of 16 researchers to Bugungu Game Reserve to carry out a basic biological and socioeconomic survey of the reserve.