Waterhouse, 1838

(Eng) Allen's bushbaby or squirrel galago

(Fre) Galago d'Allen

Three or more different forms of Allen’s galagos has been identified recently on the basis of their vocalisations and they probably include more than one valid species, but as their classification is not yet fully clarified, they are all grouped in one species here (Oates, 1996).

Lower Risk, near threatened (LR: nt).

Literature available on this species is quite poor, and no specific studies on its ecology have been carried out. Information on the main aspects of the species’ ecology is found in Bourlière (1985), Charles-Dominique (1971, 1977), and Nash et al. (1989). Data on its presence are available for Angola (Feiler, 1990), Bioko Island (Butynski & Koster, 1994), and Gabon (Blom et al., 1992); the authors mentioned also give a description of the habitat in which the species occurs. General information on the ecology and distribution of the species is found in Kingdon (1997) and Stuart & Stuart (1997). Status and threats are discussed in Oates (1996).

Known extent of occurrence

Allen’s galago occurs around the Gulf of Guinea, between the Niger and Zaire Rivers. Its presence had been also confirmed for Bioko Island in Eq. Guinea (Wilson & Reeder, 1993; Butynski & Koster, 1994). The distribution range (Fig. 2.2.3.a) was obtained by joining the maps in Nash et al. (1989) and Charles-Dominique (1977) and was revised using Kingdon (1997) to match the river network.

This species is strongly associated with primary forest (Eisenberg et al., 1979; Charles-Dominique, 1971; Kingdon, 1997).

Based on these environmental preferences, the following scores were assigned (Fig. 2.2.3.b) (Tab. 2.2.3.a):

The output of the probabilistic-continuous (PC) distribution model is shown in Fig. 2.2.3.c.

The known EO extends from Nigeria to the border of Angola, but suitability appears very variable. The overall suitability is quite good, as 48% is classified as suitable and 33% as moderately suitable. And the 70.91% accordance shown with field work means good correspondence between observed and expected occurrence. Both models identify low suitability areas in Nigeria and Cameroon, and in the coastal areas of Gabon, Congo and former Zaire. Analysis of the fragmentation indexes shows that most of the fragmentation is due to small fragments of limited relevance to the species (comparing the NP with MPS and PSSD) and that at least one suitable large patch is available that accounts for 51.6% of the total AO. The AWMSI is high as areas of different suitability classes intersect with each other in a spatial mosaic. Almost 7% of the total AO is included in existing protected areas. The areas of "possible" presence add very little to the species’ overall distribution.