Local Ecological Knowledge Informs Nocturnal Mammal Conservation in Ba’Aka Culture in the Central African Republic

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Your study provides valuable insights into the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and local ecological knowledge (LEK) relevant to the conservation of nocturnal mammals. It is crucial to incorporate these perspectives into conservation strategies. However, the manuscript needs improvements in several areas. The organization of the content should be enhanced, and there should be greater consistency in terminology and focus, particularly in distinguishing between nocturnal mammals and primates. The methodology section requires more detail, and it would be beneficial to expand the sample size or at least balance the representation between men and women, as well as across different villages or groups. Additionally, clarifying whether comparisons are being made between villages or groups would help resolve current confusion. I recommend restructuring the manuscript and resubmitting it as a Commentary or Brief Report, or according to the journal’s guidelines for such contributions.

General comments:

-       The introduction needs improvement, particularly in terms of organization. Most of the studies cited focus on primates, yet the objectives and results of the paper discuss nocturnal mammals in general. Additionally, the introduction mentions that there are few or no studies on this topic, but while studies may be limited, it is still necessary to reference existing work on the subject. I am providing some references to help address this gap.

-       If the study aims to explore the intersection of cultural beliefs and bushmeat hunting, this connection should be more explicitly stated. For example, the objectives could be revised to emphasize how cultural beliefs influence hunting practices and how these practices impact conservation efforts.

-       The current methodology raises some concerns regarding sample representativeness and clarity. Specifically, the number of participants from each village is not specified, nor is the rationale behind the selection of these particular villages and the specific list of animals. While the qualitative, in-depth nature of the study does not require a representative sample, it is advisable to avoid making broad comparisons based on the data. If comparisons and analyses are intended, the study would benefit from increasing the number of interviewees, balancing the groups by gender (as there is evidence in the literature suggesting gender-based differences in cultural perceptions of wildlife), and ensuring a more even distribution of participants across the three villages. Additionally, the text mentions "eight different groups of Ba’Aka villagers," which creates some confusion given the total of 70 participants across three villages. Clarifying how these groups were defined, distributed across the villages, and ensuring consistency in the methodology would strengthen the study’s credibility.

-       The discussion effectively highlights the cultural significance of nocturnal mammals within Ba’Aka culture. However, it could benefit from a more structured presentation of the key findings. Consider organizing the findings into distinct subsections that clearly delineate the cultural, ecological, and conservation-related insights gained from the study.  Throughout the discussion (and the whole manuscript in general), there is some inconsistency in the use of terms, particularly when referring to "nocturnal mammals" versus specific species or groups like "primates" or "genets." It would be helpful to maintain consistent terminology when discussing the broader implications of the study versus specific examples, ensuring that the focus on nocturnal mammals as a whole is clear. While the discussion touches on hunting practices and the role of traditional beliefs, it could delve deeper into how these beliefs specifically influence the hunting of different species. For example, how do beliefs about certain species being "dangerous" or "poisonous" translate into actual hunting practices? Are these species avoided entirely, or are they hunted under specific circumstances? Clarifying these aspects would provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between culture and hunting.

-       The discussion raises important points about the need to incorporate nocturnal mammals into wildlife management strategies. It could be enhanced by providing concrete examples of how this could be achieved, such as specific conservation initiatives or community-based programs that have been successful in similar contexts. Additionally, the discussion could benefit from a more detailed examination of the potential conflicts between traditional practices and modern conservation efforts, and how these might be reconciled.

Specific comments:

There are several grammatical errors in the whole manuscript. I have identified some specific instances and suggested ways to improve them. However, it is strongly recommended that the entire text be thoroughly reviewed to avoid these errors.

 

Line 10. Remove “as”

Line 12 Rephrasing for clarity: "We conducted semi-structured oral and visual interviews with eight groups of Ba’Aka in three villages (n = 53 males; n = 17 females) using trigger cards, to gain insights into beliefs about nocturnal mammals in the Central African Republic."
Line 14 Consider adding "the" before "presence"

Line 14 Consider adding “(CAR)” after Central African Republic

Line 19 Consider breaking this sentence for clarity: "The use of cryptic nocturnal mammals in Ba’Aka culture may affect the conservation of these species. We suggest a need to protect and include nocturnal mammals with unknown or decreasing populations in wildlife management strategies and community conservation programmes."

Line 26 "Influence different cultures" change by "Influences different cultures" to agree with the singular subject "Indigenous knowledge."

Line 28 "representation" change by "representations" for consistency in plural form.

Line 29 "towards" change by "toward" (either is correct, but "toward" is more common in American English).

Line 32: TEK stands for Traditional Ecological Knowledge; there is a mistake in using 'Education' instead of 'Ecological.'

Line 34: Similarly, LEK stands for Local Ecological Knowledge, not 'Education.'

Line 39 Rephrase "gain strength from the volume of people that obey them" to "gain strength from the number of people who observe them" for clarity.

Line 57. Add a comma after "religion" in "It is claimed that animism is the oldest attribute of religion and in some cultures" to separate the clauses.

Line 58. Add "are believed to" for clarity in the sentence about natural objects possessing souls.

Line 64 Remove the comma after "leprosy" in "cure ailments, such as leprosy, or are believed" for smoother reading.

Line 64 Use "travelers" instead of "travellers" for consistency in American English.

Line 69 Change "for increased use" to "behind the increased use" to clarify the relationship between poverty and the use of primates.

 

Line 86. Despite there is little evidence, there are studies that should be consulted and probably cited (and I invite authors to search for more): 1) Clark, L. E., & Sunderland, T. C. H. (2004). "The Key Non-Timber Forest Products of Central Africa: State of the Knowledge." Technical Paper No. 122, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). - This paper discusses the role of non-timber forest products, including nocturnal primates, in Central African cultures. It highlights the spiritual and medicinal uses of these animals and how cultural beliefs shape their use. 2) Colyn, M., Gautier-Hion, A., & Verheyen, W. N. (1991). "A re-appraisal of palaeoenvironmental history in Central Africa: Evidence for a major fluvial refuge in the Zaire Basin." Journal of Biogeography, 18(4), 403-407. - This study, while focused on biogeography, touches on the cultural significance of certain primate species, including nocturnal ones, in the Congo Basin region. It provides insight into how these animals are embedded in the cultural landscape. 3) Lwanga, J. S. (2006). "The role of cultural beliefs in the conservation of biodiversity: A case study from the forested landscapes of Central Africa." African Journal of Ecology, 44(1), 1-9. - This article explores how cultural beliefs and practices influence the conservation of biodiversity in Central Africa, including the role of nocturnal primates in local belief systems. 4) King, L. E., & Lee, P. C. (1987). "A history of research into traditional African medicine and the use of primates." Primates, 28(2), 199-214. - This paper provides an overview of the use of primates, including nocturnal species, in traditional African medicine, with a focus on how cultural beliefs dictate their use in healing practices.

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

There are several grammatical errors in the whole manuscript. I have identified some specific instances and suggested ways to improve them. However, it is strongly recommended that the entire text be thoroughly reviewed to avoid these errors.

Author Response

diversity-3144943

Local Ecological Knowledge informing nocturnal mammal conservation in Ba’Aka culture in the Central African Republic

 

We thank the reviewers and the editor for their valuable suggestions. We have done our best to address all the comments below and believe that our manuscript will have more impact because of them. We include major changes in this document, and we also have included a track changes version of the document for more minor comments. We very much hope that you will now consider the manuscript suitable for publication.

 

The reviewers differed in suggesting to make this a Brief Report or making it substantially longer by adding additional data and details. At the moment, we decided to continue to use the template for an original research article. If the editor prefers we change this please let us know.

 

Reviewer 1

Your study provides valuable insights into the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and local ecological knowledge (LEK) relevant to the conservation of nocturnal mammals. It is crucial to incorporate these perspectives into conservation strategies. However, the manuscript needs improvements in several areas. The organization of the content should be enhanced, and there should be greater consistency in terminology and focus, particularly in distinguishing between nocturnal mammals and primates.

Response: Indeed, this work accompanied ecological surveys for arboreal nocturnal mammals with a focus on primates…so the trigger cards were linked to finding potential survey sites. We have tried to change the terminology throughout, including adding references on other nocturnal animal species, and pointing out that we do focus on nocturnal primates.

 

The methodology section requires more detail, and it would be beneficial to expand the sample size or at least balance the representation between men and women, as well as across different villages or groups. Additionally, clarifying whether comparisons are being made between villages or groups would help resolve current confusion. I recommend restructuring the manuscript and resubmitting it as a Commentary or Brief Report, or according to the journal’s guidelines for such contributions.

Response: We have now explained the differences between the villages and composition of the groups involved in the interviews (Lines 141-146).  Comparisons were made between villages depending on their knowledge of the species shown on the trigger cards, as reflected in Table 1.

General comments: add other species

-       The introduction needs improvement, particularly in terms of organization. Most of the studies cited focus on primates, yet the objectives and results of the paper discuss nocturnal mammals in general. Additionally, the introduction mentions that there are few or no studies on this topic, but while studies may be limited, it is still necessary to reference existing work on the subject. I am providing some references to help address this gap.

Response: We have tried to rearrange parts of the introduction, including more nocturnal species. Medium sized aboreal nocturnal mammals are comparatively little studied and there is a better literature for nocturnal primates. Although we did not find some of your suggested papers relevant, we agreed to add several others.

 

-       If the study aims to explore the intersection of cultural beliefs and bushmeat hunting, this connection should be more explicitly stated. For example, the objectives could be revised to emphasize how cultural beliefs influence hunting practices and how these practices impact conservation efforts.

We agree that our objectives could be made clearer and there are more references now to cultural beliefs influence hunting practices, including as follows:

 

Line 104 – “We conducted this study to examine the importance of nocturnal mammals in Ba’Aka culture and to investigate whether any species are actively avoided or deliberately hunted, and how LEK affects their conservation”.

 

There is also a reference to hunting in the objectives – line 113. “4) there is a possibility that cultural beliefs are affecting hunting pressure on nocturnal mammals.”

 

-       The current methodology raises some concerns regarding sample representativeness and clarity. Specifically, the number of participants from each village is not specified, - This is shown in Table 1

nor is the rationale behind the selection of these particular villages and the specific list of animals- This has been addressed in lines 159-171.

While the qualitative, in-depth nature of the study does not require a representative sample, it is advisable to avoid making broad comparisons based on the data. If comparisons and analyses are intended, the study would benefit from increasing the number of interviewees, balancing the groups by gender (as there is evidence in the literature suggesting gender-based differences in cultural perceptions of wildlife), and ensuring a more even distribution of participants across the three villages. Additionally, the text mentions "eight different groups of Ba’Aka villagers," which creates some confusion given the total of 70 participants across three villages. Clarifying how these groups were defined, distributed across the villages, and ensuring consistency in the methodology would strengthen the study’s credibility. – done – paragraph 3.1

 

-       The discussion effectively highlights the cultural significance of nocturnal mammals within Ba’Aka culture. However, it could benefit from a more structured presentation of the key findings. Consider organizing the findings into distinct subsections that clearly delineate the cultural, ecological, and conservation-related insights gained from the study.  Throughout the discussion (and the whole manuscript in general), there is some inconsistency in the use of terms, particularly when referring to "nocturnal mammals" versus specific species or groups like "primates" or "genets." It would be helpful to maintain consistent terminology when discussing the broader implications of the study versus specific examples, ensuring that the focus on nocturnal mammals as a whole is clear. While the discussion touches on hunting practices and the role of traditional beliefs, it could delve deeper into how these beliefs specifically influence the hunting of different species. For example, how do beliefs about certain species being "dangerous" or "poisonous" translate into actual hunting practices? Are these species avoided entirely, or are they hunted under specific circumstances? Clarifying these aspects would provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between culture and hunting. – This has been addressed in lines 456-458

-       The discussion raises important points about the need to incorporate nocturnal mammals into wildlife management strategies. It could be enhanced by providing concrete examples of how this could be achieved, such as specific conservation initiatives or community-based programs that have been successful in similar contexts. Additionally, the discussion could benefit from a more detailed examination of the potential conflicts between traditional practices and modern conservation efforts, and how these might be reconciled. –We consulted with our co-author Fuh Neba who has worked in the area for more than a decade and provide some detailed work on future conservation efforts. At the moment we have added about another paragraph and a half…considering that the reviewers conflict in that we should either lengthen or shorten the paper, we hope that this is an adequate compromise (lines ~830-860)

Specific comments:

There are several grammatical errors in the whole manuscript. I have identified some specific instances and suggested ways to improve them. However, it is strongly recommended that the entire text be thoroughly reviewed to avoid these errors. - done

 

Line 10. Remove “as” - done

Line 12 Rephrasing for clarity: "We conducted semi-structured oral and visual interviews with eight groups of Ba’Aka in three villages (n = 53 males; n = 17 females) using trigger cards, to gain insights into beliefs about nocturnal mammals in the Central African Republic." - done
Line 14 Consider adding "the" before "presence" - done

Line 14 Consider adding “(CAR)” after Central African Republic - done

Line 19 Consider breaking this sentence for clarity: "The use of cryptic nocturnal mammals in Ba’Aka culture may affect the conservation of these species. We suggest a need to protect and include nocturnal mammals with unknown or decreasing populations in wildlife management strategies and community conservation programmes." – done (Line 20)

Line 26 "Influence different cultures" change by "Influences different cultures" to agree with the singular subject "Indigenous knowledge." - done

Line 28 "representation" change by "representations" for consistency in plural form. - done

Line 29 "towards" change by "toward" (either is correct, but "toward" is more common in American English). - done

Line 32: TEK stands for Traditional Ecological Knowledge; there is a mistake in using 'Education' instead of 'Ecological.' - done

Line 34: Similarly, LEK stands for Local Ecological Knowledge, not 'Education.' - done

Line 39 Rephrase "gain strength from the volume of people that obey them" to "gain strength from the number of people who observe them" for clarity. - done

Line 57. Add a comma after "religion" in "It is claimed that animism is the oldest attribute of religion and in some cultures" to separate the clauses. – done (Line 66)

Line 58. Add "are believed to" for clarity in the sentence about natural objects possessing souls. – done (Line 67)

Line 64 Remove the comma after "leprosy" in "cure ailments, such as leprosy, or are believed" for smoother reading. – done (Line 73)

Line 64 Use "travelers" instead of "travellers" for consistency in American English. – done (Line 73)

Line 69 Change "for increased use" to "behind the increased use" to clarify the relationship between poverty and the use of primates. – done (Line 78)

 

Line 86. Despite there is little evidence, there are studies that should be consulted and probably cited (and I invite authors to search for more): 1) Clark, L. E., & Sunderland, T. C. H. (2004). "The Key Non-Timber Forest Products of Central Africa: State of the Knowledge." Technical Paper No. 122, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). - This paper discusses the role of non-timber forest products, including nocturnal primates, in Central African cultures. It highlights the spiritual and medicinal uses of these animals and how cultural beliefs shape their use. – We apologise but we checked this 200-page document, which has very useful information on medicines and non-timber forest products – but the only primates mentioned seem to be gorillas, and no search in the document for mammals, pottos, angwantibos, hyrax, nocturnal, pangolin, genet, were found. We did find reference to hallucinations from eating tree bark, but we could not see how that was relevant.

2) Colyn, M., Gautier-Hion, A., & Verheyen, W. N. (1991). "A re-appraisal of palaeoenvironmental history in Central Africa: Evidence for a major fluvial refuge in the Zaire Basin." Journal of Biogeography, 18(4), 403-407. - This study, while focused on biogeography, touches on the cultural significance of certain primate species, including nocturnal ones, in the Congo Basin region. It provides insight into how these animals are embedded in the cultural landscape.  –

We checked this paper and it focuses on Cercopithecidae  and not really about cultural significance other than aspects of how they overlap with humans.

3) Lwanga, J. S. (2006). "The role of cultural beliefs in the conservation of biodiversity: A case study from the forested landscapes of Central Africa." African Journal of Ecology, 44(1), 1-9. - This article explores how cultural beliefs and practices influence the conservation of biodiversity in Central Africa, including the role of nocturnal primates in local belief systems. We were not able to access this paper on the journal home page or the web of science

 

We did find this useful paper using that same search - Sinthumule, Ndidzulafhi I. "Traditional ecological knowledge and its role in biodiversity conservation: a systematic review." Frontiers in Environmental Science 11 (2023): 1164900.

 

4) King, L. E., & Lee, P. C. (1987). "A history of research into traditional African medicine and the use of primates." Primates, 28(2), 199-214. - This paper provides an overview of the use of primates, including nocturnal species, in traditional African medicine, with a focus on how cultural beliefs dictate their use in healing practices.

We recognise the importance of this paper, but we cited much newer ones that had much more up to date information, as well as the same information as in this paper (since they were later reviews).

We also added

Williams, S. T.; Williams, K. S.; Constant, N.; Swanepoel, L.; Taylor, P. J.; Belmain, S. R.; Evans, S. W. Low‐intensity environmental education can enhance perceptions of culturally taboo wildlife.  Ecosphere. 2021. 12(7): e03482.

D'Cruze, N.; Assou, D.; Coulthard, E.; Norrey, J.; Megson, D.; Macdonald, D. W.; Harrington, L.A., Ronfot, D., Segniagbeto G.H., Auliya, M. Snake oil and pangolin scales: insights into wild animal use at “Marché des Fétiches” traditional medicine market, Togo. Nature Conservation. 2020. 39:45-71.

Cooks-Campbell, A. 2022. Belief or Value? Learn the difference and set ourself free. BetterUp. Available online. https://www.betterup.com/blog/beliefs-vs-values(Accessed on 10/09/24).

 

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

There are several grammatical errors in the whole manuscript. I have identified some specific instances and suggested ways to improve them. However, it is strongly recommended that the entire text be thoroughly reviewed to avoid these errors. - done

 

 

Reviewer 2

This paper reports on Local Ecological Knowledge about nocturnal animals in an area of the Central African Republic.  It is well written and informative.  Other than a few minor comments below, I am wondering if the authors can comment on a few questions, which from my perspective anyway would provide additional useful information for comparison with other studies, and maybe also for applications to conservation: 

 

1)        Are nocturnal animals less well-known than diurnal animals—presumably they are harder to observe?  All small mammals can be relatively hard to find and observe (especially if arboreal or underground), though, so I don’t know how much difference being nocturnal makes, but I would be interested if the authors can comment on this. 

Thank you for this query.  Nocturnal animals are harder to observe, some species within the habitat can become ‘more’ dangerous at night (elephants, leopards) and so less research has been carried out over time. We add this concern in lines 521-526.

 

 

 

2)        Another question is whether the interviewees mentioned any difference between opportunistically vs. actively hunting these animals—are some mainly found opportunistically (e.g. if they are hard to find), while others are maybe easier to find and so to hunt actively?  This has been addressed in lines 456-458

 

3)        Finally, I wonder if these animals were also known from non-hunting contexts—might one be doing something else in the forest and come across them?  Did interviewees discuss in what contexts they observed these species?  

This was included regarding see genets at night as ancestors – line 385-386, 420-421.

 

4)        Finally, did men and women form their knowledge in the same contexts, or in different contexts (e.g. when hunting vs. doing something else)?  Do you have any information about this?

Thank you for this question.  We have amended the paragraph to now say  “We did not discover how often the villagers went into the forest at night, women went daily to pick fruits and leaves. Woman appeared to be knowledgeable on medicinal use and preparation of some species for cooking which is likely to have been a skill passed down generations, and they did not express desire to be in the forest at night”.

 

32. 32.  I think this is supposed to say “Traditional Ecological Knowledge” unless the authors are deliberately changing it. – done (Line 32)
33. 34.  Same here.  I have never seen the E designated as “education”, and the titles of the cited works also say “Ecological” – done (Line 34)
34. 58-65.  You imply that the medicinal uses of these species are related to transferring some of their traits to the recipient.  This was more obvious in the discussion of potto meat.  Can you explain here what traits the species mentioned have, that lead them to be associated with curing these particular ailments?  

This was very curious to us as well. Pottos and angwantibos have a very strong hand grip as part of their defence against predators so they can cling to branches extraordinarily well. In the DRC it was recorded they said pottos would mean a strong grip. It seems that in CAR, the Ba’Aka have the same idea about angwantibos in that any child whose mother had angwantibo meat when they were pregnant with them would therefore grow up to be very strong – line 390. Otherwise, there do not seem to be any other traits that these species have that can be transferred to the recipient – unless angwantibo bites are venomous – lines 472-474

 

126. 126.  I was unsure who this was at first, in my experience when referring to an author of the paper one first says something like “one of the authors [T.F.N.]” and subsequently just put their initials. – done (Line 138)
127. 157.  I think it should be a separate sentence: “Interviewees willingly participated without bribes.” – done (Line 170)
128. 211-212 Throughout, the scientific names should also be given. – done Line 239
129. 225.  Missing the end ) – done (Line 241)
130. 282 typo – done (Line 276?)
131. 307 “the opportunistic nature of sustainable hunting habits”—I don’t understand what this has to do with gorillas, please explain. – Thank you for this. It has been amended (Line 427-429)

 

 

Reviewer 3

This study provided information needed to describe local peoples’

knowledge and use of indigenous wildlife. However, use of this information to guide and

enhance management of local wildlife is missing as is a synthesis of this information leading to a better understanding of local residents’ cultures and life-styles. Translation of the information gathered leading to a better understanding of the ecological relationships the wildlife species addressed is missing and would have been a significant contribution to understanding their natural history. - done

 

Diversity 3144943 Specific Comments

Page 1 – lines 35-37: “Beliefs are often considered irrational or illogical principles based solely on the values, faith or integrity of a culture; thus they are not facts that can be disproven with solid evidence [9].” This is a significantly negative perception of beliefs when considered in the context of TEK or LEK. I suggest that a reference more directly applied to beliefs and their consequences should be used to support this statement. – This definition of beliefs has now been amended from a new and updated reference.

 

Page 1 – lines 40-42: “Nocturnal species are frequently considered to be negative omens within countries, regions, and communities due to their curious appearance, cryptic behaviour and perturbing vocalisations.” This is certainly true but I think a more over-whelming factor is simply that they are active at night which is highly associated with evil and danger. – done (Line 42-43)

 

Pages 1-2 – lines 42-54. These comparisons are interesting but it would be helpful to describe how and why these beliefs developed so differently. – done (Line 57-59)

 

Page 2 – lines 55-66: These associations and uses are of interest. It would be helpful if some background material was provided on the origin and reasons for acceptance of these uses.

As we have been requested to shorten the paper, and because the references we cite here describe some of the background, and because this is the introduction, we feel this would make the paper (which has grown a lot in length after the review) even longer…we did add more about the potto since both reviewers allude to this.

 

Page 3 – line 125-126: Were animal populations (size and species makeup) similar in proximity of the 3 villages similar? If they were, how was this determined? If they were not, how did this potentially affect the results?

Thank you for this question. Animal populations fall into data from a second paper connected with this research that we hope to publish in future regarding presence/absence of nocturnal populations around the villages and within the national park. We felt that this aspect of the study should be excluded from this manuscript so we could focus more on traditional culture.

 

Page 3 – lines 128-129: It is not clear how snake and crocodile were used a control species since it was apparently not known how interviewees would respond to these species. The value of including species that were not from the area was in clear.

This has now been expanded between lines 148-157.

 

Page 4 – line 172: How were gestures and sounds noted, recorded, and interpreted for study purposes?

Thank you for questioning this. It has now been included on lines 193-197.

“We observed diligently, noting down descriptive gestures and sounds, that symbolised recognition and understanding of either appearance or behaviour of the species in question, and key words and sentences were translated into English. The recorded notes described actions, such as ‘crossing arms in front of face’ to show the defensive pose of Arctocebus and ‘nodding in agreement’ to verify that a comment said was true”.

 

Page 4 – line 179: How were key words determined (identified) prior to the interviews?

This has now been answered on lines 197-199:

“No specific key words were highlighted prior to interview because there was little known to researchers how much LEK was present regarding many nocturnal species in this area at the time”.

 

Page 4 – line 180: What rationale did you use to categorise key words prior to the interviews into ten appropriate categories?

The rationale for categorising key words was regarding association to each other, for example, ‘food’, ‘meat’, ‘nutrition’ would all come under the category of Consumption.

 

The sentence on lines 211-212 now reads:

“Word similarity groupings for key words were not required in NVivo as we had categorised them previously into ten appropriate categories, combining  words associated with specific factors, such as hunting, taboo and medicine”.

 

Page 5 – line 195: Why were there fewer female interviewees? Were there cultural reasons for this?

Thank you for pointing this out.  We have now explained this in lines 231-234, which now read:  “There were less females involved because most Ba’Aka who entered the forest at night would be male and they were targeted first. However, females do visit the forest during the day to find fruits, nuts and various vegetation, and those who felt confident enough to participate were warmly welcomed “

 

 

 

 

 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper reports on Local Ecological Knowledge about nocturnal animals in an area of the Central African Republic.  It is well written and informative.  Other than a few minor comments below, I am wondering if the authors can comment on a few questions, which from my perspective anyway would provide additional useful information for comparison with other studies, and maybe also for applications to conservation: 

1)        Are nocturnal animals less well-known than diurnal animals—presumably they are harder to observe?  All small mammals can be relatively hard to find and observe (especially if arboreal or underground), though, so I don’t know how much difference being nocturnal makes, but I would be interested if the authors can comment on this. 

2)        Another question is whether the interviewees mentioned any difference between opportunistically vs. actively hunting these animals—are some mainly found opportunistically (e.g. if they are hard to find), while others are maybe easier to find and so to hunt actively?  

3)        Finally, I wonder if these animals were also known from non-hunting contexts—might one be doing something else in the forest and come across them?  Did interviewees discuss in what contexts they observed these species?  

4)        Finally, did men and women form their knowledge in the same contexts, or in different contexts (e.g. when hunting vs. doing something else)?  Do you have any information about this?

 

l. 32.  I think this is supposed to say “Traditional Ecological Knowledge” unless the authors are deliberately changing it.

L. 34.  Same here.  I have never seen the E designated as “education”, and the titles of the cited works also say “Ecological”

L. 58-65.  You imply that the medicinal uses of these species are related to transferring some of their traits to the recipient.  This was more obvious in the discussion of potto meat.  Can you explain here what traits the species mentioned have, that lead them to be associated with curing these particular ailments?  

L. 126.  I was unsure who this was at first, in my experience when referring to an author of the paper one first says something like “one of the authors [T.F.N.]” and subsequently just put their initials. 

L. 157.  I think it should be a separate sentence: “Interviewees willingly participated without bribes.”

L. 211-212 Throughout, the scientific names should also be given.

L. 225.  Missing the end )

L. 282 typo

L. 307 “the opportunistic nature of sustainable hunting habits”—I don’t understand what this has to do with gorillas, please explain. 

Author Response

diversity-3144943

Local Ecological Knowledge informing nocturnal mammal conservation in Ba’Aka culture in the Central African Republic

 

We thank the reviewers and the editor for their valuable suggestions. We have done our best to address all the comments below and believe that our manuscript will have more impact because of them. We include major changes in this document, and we also have included a track changes version of the document for more minor comments. We very much hope that you will now consider the manuscript suitable for publication.

 

The reviewers differed in suggesting to make this a Brief Report or making it substantially longer by adding additional data and details. At the moment, we decided to continue to use the template for an original research article. If the editor prefers we change this please let us know.

 

Reviewer 1

Your study provides valuable insights into the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and local ecological knowledge (LEK) relevant to the conservation of nocturnal mammals. It is crucial to incorporate these perspectives into conservation strategies. However, the manuscript needs improvements in several areas. The organization of the content should be enhanced, and there should be greater consistency in terminology and focus, particularly in distinguishing between nocturnal mammals and primates.

Response: Indeed, this work accompanied ecological surveys for arboreal nocturnal mammals with a focus on primates…so the trigger cards were linked to finding potential survey sites. We have tried to change the terminology throughout, including adding references on other nocturnal animal species, and pointing out that we do focus on nocturnal primates.

 

The methodology section requires more detail, and it would be beneficial to expand the sample size or at least balance the representation between men and women, as well as across different villages or groups. Additionally, clarifying whether comparisons are being made between villages or groups would help resolve current confusion. I recommend restructuring the manuscript and resubmitting it as a Commentary or Brief Report, or according to the journal’s guidelines for such contributions.

Response: We have now explained the differences between the villages and composition of the groups involved in the interviews (Lines 141-146).  Comparisons were made between villages depending on their knowledge of the species shown on the trigger cards, as reflected in Table 1.

General comments: add other species

-       The introduction needs improvement, particularly in terms of organization. Most of the studies cited focus on primates, yet the objectives and results of the paper discuss nocturnal mammals in general. Additionally, the introduction mentions that there are few or no studies on this topic, but while studies may be limited, it is still necessary to reference existing work on the subject. I am providing some references to help address this gap.

Response: We have tried to rearrange parts of the introduction, including more nocturnal species. Medium sized aboreal nocturnal mammals are comparatively little studied and there is a better literature for nocturnal primates. Although we did not find some of your suggested papers relevant, we agreed to add several others.

 

-       If the study aims to explore the intersection of cultural beliefs and bushmeat hunting, this connection should be more explicitly stated. For example, the objectives could be revised to emphasize how cultural beliefs influence hunting practices and how these practices impact conservation efforts.

We agree that our objectives could be made clearer and there are more references now to cultural beliefs influence hunting practices, including as follows:

 

Line 104 – “We conducted this study to examine the importance of nocturnal mammals in Ba’Aka culture and to investigate whether any species are actively avoided or deliberately hunted, and how LEK affects their conservation”.

 

There is also a reference to hunting in the objectives – line 113. “4) there is a possibility that cultural beliefs are affecting hunting pressure on nocturnal mammals.”

 

-       The current methodology raises some concerns regarding sample representativeness and clarity. Specifically, the number of participants from each village is not specified, - This is shown in Table 1

nor is the rationale behind the selection of these particular villages and the specific list of animals- This has been addressed in lines 159-171.

While the qualitative, in-depth nature of the study does not require a representative sample, it is advisable to avoid making broad comparisons based on the data. If comparisons and analyses are intended, the study would benefit from increasing the number of interviewees, balancing the groups by gender (as there is evidence in the literature suggesting gender-based differences in cultural perceptions of wildlife), and ensuring a more even distribution of participants across the three villages. Additionally, the text mentions "eight different groups of Ba’Aka villagers," which creates some confusion given the total of 70 participants across three villages. Clarifying how these groups were defined, distributed across the villages, and ensuring consistency in the methodology would strengthen the study’s credibility. – done – paragraph 3.1

 

-       The discussion effectively highlights the cultural significance of nocturnal mammals within Ba’Aka culture. However, it could benefit from a more structured presentation of the key findings. Consider organizing the findings into distinct subsections that clearly delineate the cultural, ecological, and conservation-related insights gained from the study.  Throughout the discussion (and the whole manuscript in general), there is some inconsistency in the use of terms, particularly when referring to "nocturnal mammals" versus specific species or groups like "primates" or "genets." It would be helpful to maintain consistent terminology when discussing the broader implications of the study versus specific examples, ensuring that the focus on nocturnal mammals as a whole is clear. While the discussion touches on hunting practices and the role of traditional beliefs, it could delve deeper into how these beliefs specifically influence the hunting of different species. For example, how do beliefs about certain species being "dangerous" or "poisonous" translate into actual hunting practices? Are these species avoided entirely, or are they hunted under specific circumstances? Clarifying these aspects would provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between culture and hunting. – This has been addressed in lines 456-458

-       The discussion raises important points about the need to incorporate nocturnal mammals into wildlife management strategies. It could be enhanced by providing concrete examples of how this could be achieved, such as specific conservation initiatives or community-based programs that have been successful in similar contexts. Additionally, the discussion could benefit from a more detailed examination of the potential conflicts between traditional practices and modern conservation efforts, and how these might be reconciled. –We consulted with our co-author Fuh Neba who has worked in the area for more than a decade and provide some detailed work on future conservation efforts. At the moment we have added about another paragraph and a half…considering that the reviewers conflict in that we should either lengthen or shorten the paper, we hope that this is an adequate compromise (lines ~830-860)

Specific comments:

There are several grammatical errors in the whole manuscript. I have identified some specific instances and suggested ways to improve them. However, it is strongly recommended that the entire text be thoroughly reviewed to avoid these errors. - done

 

Line 10. Remove “as” - done

Line 12 Rephrasing for clarity: "We conducted semi-structured oral and visual interviews with eight groups of Ba’Aka in three villages (n = 53 males; n = 17 females) using trigger cards, to gain insights into beliefs about nocturnal mammals in the Central African Republic." - done
Line 14 Consider adding "the" before "presence" - done

Line 14 Consider adding “(CAR)” after Central African Republic - done

Line 19 Consider breaking this sentence for clarity: "The use of cryptic nocturnal mammals in Ba’Aka culture may affect the conservation of these species. We suggest a need to protect and include nocturnal mammals with unknown or decreasing populations in wildlife management strategies and community conservation programmes." – done (Line 20)

Line 26 "Influence different cultures" change by "Influences different cultures" to agree with the singular subject "Indigenous knowledge." - done

Line 28 "representation" change by "representations" for consistency in plural form. - done

Line 29 "towards" change by "toward" (either is correct, but "toward" is more common in American English). - done

Line 32: TEK stands for Traditional Ecological Knowledge; there is a mistake in using 'Education' instead of 'Ecological.' - done

Line 34: Similarly, LEK stands for Local Ecological Knowledge, not 'Education.' - done

Line 39 Rephrase "gain strength from the volume of people that obey them" to "gain strength from the number of people who observe them" for clarity. - done

Line 57. Add a comma after "religion" in "It is claimed that animism is the oldest attribute of religion and in some cultures" to separate the clauses. – done (Line 66)

Line 58. Add "are believed to" for clarity in the sentence about natural objects possessing souls. – done (Line 67)

Line 64 Remove the comma after "leprosy" in "cure ailments, such as leprosy, or are believed" for smoother reading. – done (Line 73)

Line 64 Use "travelers" instead of "travellers" for consistency in American English. – done (Line 73)

Line 69 Change "for increased use" to "behind the increased use" to clarify the relationship between poverty and the use of primates. – done (Line 78)

 

Line 86. Despite there is little evidence, there are studies that should be consulted and probably cited (and I invite authors to search for more): 1) Clark, L. E., & Sunderland, T. C. H. (2004). "The Key Non-Timber Forest Products of Central Africa: State of the Knowledge." Technical Paper No. 122, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). - This paper discusses the role of non-timber forest products, including nocturnal primates, in Central African cultures. It highlights the spiritual and medicinal uses of these animals and how cultural beliefs shape their use. – We apologise but we checked this 200-page document, which has very useful information on medicines and non-timber forest products – but the only primates mentioned seem to be gorillas, and no search in the document for mammals, pottos, angwantibos, hyrax, nocturnal, pangolin, genet, were found. We did find reference to hallucinations from eating tree bark, but we could not see how that was relevant.

2) Colyn, M., Gautier-Hion, A., & Verheyen, W. N. (1991). "A re-appraisal of palaeoenvironmental history in Central Africa: Evidence for a major fluvial refuge in the Zaire Basin." Journal of Biogeography, 18(4), 403-407. - This study, while focused on biogeography, touches on the cultural significance of certain primate species, including nocturnal ones, in the Congo Basin region. It provides insight into how these animals are embedded in the cultural landscape.  –

We checked this paper and it focuses on Cercopithecidae  and not really about cultural significance other than aspects of how they overlap with humans.

3) Lwanga, J. S. (2006). "The role of cultural beliefs in the conservation of biodiversity: A case study from the forested landscapes of Central Africa." African Journal of Ecology, 44(1), 1-9. - This article explores how cultural beliefs and practices influence the conservation of biodiversity in Central Africa, including the role of nocturnal primates in local belief systems. We were not able to access this paper on the journal home page or the web of science

 

We did find this useful paper using that same search - Sinthumule, Ndidzulafhi I. "Traditional ecological knowledge and its role in biodiversity conservation: a systematic review." Frontiers in Environmental Science 11 (2023): 1164900.

 

4) King, L. E., & Lee, P. C. (1987). "A history of research into traditional African medicine and the use of primates." Primates, 28(2), 199-214. - This paper provides an overview of the use of primates, including nocturnal species, in traditional African medicine, with a focus on how cultural beliefs dictate their use in healing practices.

We recognise the importance of this paper, but we cited much newer ones that had much more up to date information, as well as the same information as in this paper (since they were later reviews).

We also added

Williams, S. T.; Williams, K. S.; Constant, N.; Swanepoel, L.; Taylor, P. J.; Belmain, S. R.; Evans, S. W. Low‐intensity environmental education can enhance perceptions of culturally taboo wildlife.  Ecosphere. 2021. 12(7): e03482.

D'Cruze, N.; Assou, D.; Coulthard, E.; Norrey, J.; Megson, D.; Macdonald, D. W.; Harrington, L.A., Ronfot, D., Segniagbeto G.H., Auliya, M. Snake oil and pangolin scales: insights into wild animal use at “Marché des Fétiches” traditional medicine market, Togo. Nature Conservation. 2020. 39:45-71.

Cooks-Campbell, A. 2022. Belief or Value? Learn the difference and set ourself free. BetterUp. Available online. https://www.betterup.com/blog/beliefs-vs-values(Accessed on 10/09/24).

 

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

There are several grammatical errors in the whole manuscript. I have identified some specific instances and suggested ways to improve them. However, it is strongly recommended that the entire text be thoroughly reviewed to avoid these errors. - done

 

 

Reviewer 2

This paper reports on Local Ecological Knowledge about nocturnal animals in an area of the Central African Republic.  It is well written and informative.  Other than a few minor comments below, I am wondering if the authors can comment on a few questions, which from my perspective anyway would provide additional useful information for comparison with other studies, and maybe also for applications to conservation: 

 

1)        Are nocturnal animals less well-known than diurnal animals—presumably they are harder to observe?  All small mammals can be relatively hard to find and observe (especially if arboreal or underground), though, so I don’t know how much difference being nocturnal makes, but I would be interested if the authors can comment on this. 

Thank you for this query.  Nocturnal animals are harder to observe, some species within the habitat can become ‘more’ dangerous at night (elephants, leopards) and so less research has been carried out over time. We add this concern in lines 521-526.

 

 

 

2)        Another question is whether the interviewees mentioned any difference between opportunistically vs. actively hunting these animals—are some mainly found opportunistically (e.g. if they are hard to find), while others are maybe easier to find and so to hunt actively?  This has been addressed in lines 456-458

 

3)        Finally, I wonder if these animals were also known from non-hunting contexts—might one be doing something else in the forest and come across them?  Did interviewees discuss in what contexts they observed these species?  

This was included regarding see genets at night as ancestors – line 385-386, 420-421.

 

4)        Finally, did men and women form their knowledge in the same contexts, or in different contexts (e.g. when hunting vs. doing something else)?  Do you have any information about this?

Thank you for this question.  We have amended the paragraph to now say  “We did not discover how often the villagers went into the forest at night, women went daily to pick fruits and leaves. Woman appeared to be knowledgeable on medicinal use and preparation of some species for cooking which is likely to have been a skill passed down generations, and they did not express desire to be in the forest at night”.

 

32. 32.  I think this is supposed to say “Traditional Ecological Knowledge” unless the authors are deliberately changing it. – done (Line 32)
33. 34.  Same here.  I have never seen the E designated as “education”, and the titles of the cited works also say “Ecological” – done (Line 34)
34. 58-65.  You imply that the medicinal uses of these species are related to transferring some of their traits to the recipient.  This was more obvious in the discussion of potto meat.  Can you explain here what traits the species mentioned have, that lead them to be associated with curing these particular ailments?  

This was very curious to us as well. Pottos and angwantibos have a very strong hand grip as part of their defence against predators so they can cling to branches extraordinarily well. In the DRC it was recorded they said pottos would mean a strong grip. It seems that in CAR, the Ba’Aka have the same idea about angwantibos in that any child whose mother had angwantibo meat when they were pregnant with them would therefore grow up to be very strong – line 390. Otherwise, there do not seem to be any other traits that these species have that can be transferred to the recipient – unless angwantibo bites are venomous – lines 472-474

 

126. 126.  I was unsure who this was at first, in my experience when referring to an author of the paper one first says something like “one of the authors [T.F.N.]” and subsequently just put their initials. – done (Line 138)
127. 157.  I think it should be a separate sentence: “Interviewees willingly participated without bribes.” – done (Line 170)
128. 211-212 Throughout, the scientific names should also be given. – done Line 239
129. 225.  Missing the end ) – done (Line 241)
130. 282 typo – done (Line 276?)
131. 307 “the opportunistic nature of sustainable hunting habits”—I don’t understand what this has to do with gorillas, please explain. – Thank you for this. It has been amended (Line 427-429)

 

 

Reviewer 3

This study provided information needed to describe local peoples’

knowledge and use of indigenous wildlife. However, use of this information to guide and

enhance management of local wildlife is missing as is a synthesis of this information leading to a better understanding of local residents’ cultures and life-styles. Translation of the information gathered leading to a better understanding of the ecological relationships the wildlife species addressed is missing and would have been a significant contribution to understanding their natural history. - done

 

Diversity 3144943 Specific Comments

Page 1 – lines 35-37: “Beliefs are often considered irrational or illogical principles based solely on the values, faith or integrity of a culture; thus they are not facts that can be disproven with solid evidence [9].” This is a significantly negative perception of beliefs when considered in the context of TEK or LEK. I suggest that a reference more directly applied to beliefs and their consequences should be used to support this statement. – This definition of beliefs has now been amended from a new and updated reference.

 

Page 1 – lines 40-42: “Nocturnal species are frequently considered to be negative omens within countries, regions, and communities due to their curious appearance, cryptic behaviour and perturbing vocalisations.” This is certainly true but I think a more over-whelming factor is simply that they are active at night which is highly associated with evil and danger. – done (Line 42-43)

 

Pages 1-2 – lines 42-54. These comparisons are interesting but it would be helpful to describe how and why these beliefs developed so differently. – done (Line 57-59)

 

Page 2 – lines 55-66: These associations and uses are of interest. It would be helpful if some background material was provided on the origin and reasons for acceptance of these uses.

As we have been requested to shorten the paper, and because the references we cite here describe some of the background, and because this is the introduction, we feel this would make the paper (which has grown a lot in length after the review) even longer…we did add more about the potto since both reviewers allude to this.

 

Page 3 – line 125-126: Were animal populations (size and species makeup) similar in proximity of the 3 villages similar? If they were, how was this determined? If they were not, how did this potentially affect the results?

Thank you for this question. Animal populations fall into data from a second paper connected with this research that we hope to publish in future regarding presence/absence of nocturnal populations around the villages and within the national park. We felt that this aspect of the study should be excluded from this manuscript so we could focus more on traditional culture.

 

Page 3 – lines 128-129: It is not clear how snake and crocodile were used a control species since it was apparently not known how interviewees would respond to these species. The value of including species that were not from the area was in clear.

This has now been expanded between lines 148-157.

 

Page 4 – line 172: How were gestures and sounds noted, recorded, and interpreted for study purposes?

Thank you for questioning this. It has now been included on lines 193-197.

“We observed diligently, noting down descriptive gestures and sounds, that symbolised recognition and understanding of either appearance or behaviour of the species in question, and key words and sentences were translated into English. The recorded notes described actions, such as ‘crossing arms in front of face’ to show the defensive pose of Arctocebus and ‘nodding in agreement’ to verify that a comment said was true”.

 

Page 4 – line 179: How were key words determined (identified) prior to the interviews?

This has now been answered on lines 197-199:

“No specific key words were highlighted prior to interview because there was little known to researchers how much LEK was present regarding many nocturnal species in this area at the time”.

 

Page 4 – line 180: What rationale did you use to categorise key words prior to the interviews into ten appropriate categories?

The rationale for categorising key words was regarding association to each other, for example, ‘food’, ‘meat’, ‘nutrition’ would all come under the category of Consumption.

 

The sentence on lines 211-212 now reads:

“Word similarity groupings for key words were not required in NVivo as we had categorised them previously into ten appropriate categories, combining  words associated with specific factors, such as hunting, taboo and medicine”.

 

Page 5 – line 195: Why were there fewer female interviewees? Were there cultural reasons for this?

Thank you for pointing this out.  We have now explained this in lines 231-234, which now read:  “There were less females involved because most Ba’Aka who entered the forest at night would be male and they were targeted first. However, females do visit the forest during the day to find fruits, nuts and various vegetation, and those who felt confident enough to participate were warmly welcomed “

 

 

 

 

 

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This study provided information needed to describe local peoples’ knowledge and use of indigenous wildlife.  However, use of this information to guide and enhance management of local wildlife is missing as is a synthesis of this information leading to a better understanding of local residents’ cultures and life-styles.  Translation of the information gathered leading to a better understanding of the ecological relationships the wildlife species addressed is missing and would have been a significant contribution to understanding their natural history.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

diversity-3144943

Local Ecological Knowledge informing nocturnal mammal conservation in Ba’Aka culture in the Central African Republic

 

We thank the reviewers and the editor for their valuable suggestions. We have done our best to address all the comments below and believe that our manuscript will have more impact because of them. We include major changes in this document, and we also have included a track changes version of the document for more minor comments. We very much hope that you will now consider the manuscript suitable for publication.

 

The reviewers differed in suggesting to make this a Brief Report or making it substantially longer by adding additional data and details. At the moment, we decided to continue to use the template for an original research article. If the editor prefers we change this please let us know.

 

Reviewer 1

Your study provides valuable insights into the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and local ecological knowledge (LEK) relevant to the conservation of nocturnal mammals. It is crucial to incorporate these perspectives into conservation strategies. However, the manuscript needs improvements in several areas. The organization of the content should be enhanced, and there should be greater consistency in terminology and focus, particularly in distinguishing between nocturnal mammals and primates.

Response: Indeed, this work accompanied ecological surveys for arboreal nocturnal mammals with a focus on primates…so the trigger cards were linked to finding potential survey sites. We have tried to change the terminology throughout, including adding references on other nocturnal animal species, and pointing out that we do focus on nocturnal primates.

 

The methodology section requires more detail, and it would be beneficial to expand the sample size or at least balance the representation between men and women, as well as across different villages or groups. Additionally, clarifying whether comparisons are being made between villages or groups would help resolve current confusion. I recommend restructuring the manuscript and resubmitting it as a Commentary or Brief Report, or according to the journal’s guidelines for such contributions.

Response: We have now explained the differences between the villages and composition of the groups involved in the interviews (Lines 141-146).  Comparisons were made between villages depending on their knowledge of the species shown on the trigger cards, as reflected in Table 1.

General comments: add other species

-       The introduction needs improvement, particularly in terms of organization. Most of the studies cited focus on primates, yet the objectives and results of the paper discuss nocturnal mammals in general. Additionally, the introduction mentions that there are few or no studies on this topic, but while studies may be limited, it is still necessary to reference existing work on the subject. I am providing some references to help address this gap.

Response: We have tried to rearrange parts of the introduction, including more nocturnal species. Medium sized aboreal nocturnal mammals are comparatively little studied and there is a better literature for nocturnal primates. Although we did not find some of your suggested papers relevant, we agreed to add several others.

 

-       If the study aims to explore the intersection of cultural beliefs and bushmeat hunting, this connection should be more explicitly stated. For example, the objectives could be revised to emphasize how cultural beliefs influence hunting practices and how these practices impact conservation efforts.

We agree that our objectives could be made clearer and there are more references now to cultural beliefs influence hunting practices, including as follows:

 

Line 104 – “We conducted this study to examine the importance of nocturnal mammals in Ba’Aka culture and to investigate whether any species are actively avoided or deliberately hunted, and how LEK affects their conservation”.

 

There is also a reference to hunting in the objectives – line 113. “4) there is a possibility that cultural beliefs are affecting hunting pressure on nocturnal mammals.”

 

-       The current methodology raises some concerns regarding sample representativeness and clarity. Specifically, the number of participants from each village is not specified, - This is shown in Table 1

nor is the rationale behind the selection of these particular villages and the specific list of animals- This has been addressed in lines 159-171.

While the qualitative, in-depth nature of the study does not require a representative sample, it is advisable to avoid making broad comparisons based on the data. If comparisons and analyses are intended, the study would benefit from increasing the number of interviewees, balancing the groups by gender (as there is evidence in the literature suggesting gender-based differences in cultural perceptions of wildlife), and ensuring a more even distribution of participants across the three villages. Additionally, the text mentions "eight different groups of Ba’Aka villagers," which creates some confusion given the total of 70 participants across three villages. Clarifying how these groups were defined, distributed across the villages, and ensuring consistency in the methodology would strengthen the study’s credibility. – done – paragraph 3.1

 

-       The discussion effectively highlights the cultural significance of nocturnal mammals within Ba’Aka culture. However, it could benefit from a more structured presentation of the key findings. Consider organizing the findings into distinct subsections that clearly delineate the cultural, ecological, and conservation-related insights gained from the study.  Throughout the discussion (and the whole manuscript in general), there is some inconsistency in the use of terms, particularly when referring to "nocturnal mammals" versus specific species or groups like "primates" or "genets." It would be helpful to maintain consistent terminology when discussing the broader implications of the study versus specific examples, ensuring that the focus on nocturnal mammals as a whole is clear. While the discussion touches on hunting practices and the role of traditional beliefs, it could delve deeper into how these beliefs specifically influence the hunting of different species. For example, how do beliefs about certain species being "dangerous" or "poisonous" translate into actual hunting practices? Are these species avoided entirely, or are they hunted under specific circumstances? Clarifying these aspects would provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between culture and hunting. – This has been addressed in lines 456-458

-       The discussion raises important points about the need to incorporate nocturnal mammals into wildlife management strategies. It could be enhanced by providing concrete examples of how this could be achieved, such as specific conservation initiatives or community-based programs that have been successful in similar contexts. Additionally, the discussion could benefit from a more detailed examination of the potential conflicts between traditional practices and modern conservation efforts, and how these might be reconciled. –We consulted with our co-author Fuh Neba who has worked in the area for more than a decade and provide some detailed work on future conservation efforts. At the moment we have added about another paragraph and a half…considering that the reviewers conflict in that we should either lengthen or shorten the paper, we hope that this is an adequate compromise (lines ~830-860)

Specific comments:

There are several grammatical errors in the whole manuscript. I have identified some specific instances and suggested ways to improve them. However, it is strongly recommended that the entire text be thoroughly reviewed to avoid these errors. - done

 

Line 10. Remove “as” - done

Line 12 Rephrasing for clarity: "We conducted semi-structured oral and visual interviews with eight groups of Ba’Aka in three villages (n = 53 males; n = 17 females) using trigger cards, to gain insights into beliefs about nocturnal mammals in the Central African Republic." - done
Line 14 Consider adding "the" before "presence" - done

Line 14 Consider adding “(CAR)” after Central African Republic - done

Line 19 Consider breaking this sentence for clarity: "The use of cryptic nocturnal mammals in Ba’Aka culture may affect the conservation of these species. We suggest a need to protect and include nocturnal mammals with unknown or decreasing populations in wildlife management strategies and community conservation programmes." – done (Line 20)

Line 26 "Influence different cultures" change by "Influences different cultures" to agree with the singular subject "Indigenous knowledge." - done

Line 28 "representation" change by "representations" for consistency in plural form. - done

Line 29 "towards" change by "toward" (either is correct, but "toward" is more common in American English). - done

Line 32: TEK stands for Traditional Ecological Knowledge; there is a mistake in using 'Education' instead of 'Ecological.' - done

Line 34: Similarly, LEK stands for Local Ecological Knowledge, not 'Education.' - done

Line 39 Rephrase "gain strength from the volume of people that obey them" to "gain strength from the number of people who observe them" for clarity. - done

Line 57. Add a comma after "religion" in "It is claimed that animism is the oldest attribute of religion and in some cultures" to separate the clauses. – done (Line 66)

Line 58. Add "are believed to" for clarity in the sentence about natural objects possessing souls. – done (Line 67)

Line 64 Remove the comma after "leprosy" in "cure ailments, such as leprosy, or are believed" for smoother reading. – done (Line 73)

Line 64 Use "travelers" instead of "travellers" for consistency in American English. – done (Line 73)

Line 69 Change "for increased use" to "behind the increased use" to clarify the relationship between poverty and the use of primates. – done (Line 78)

 

Line 86. Despite there is little evidence, there are studies that should be consulted and probably cited (and I invite authors to search for more): 1) Clark, L. E., & Sunderland, T. C. H. (2004). "The Key Non-Timber Forest Products of Central Africa: State of the Knowledge." Technical Paper No. 122, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). - This paper discusses the role of non-timber forest products, including nocturnal primates, in Central African cultures. It highlights the spiritual and medicinal uses of these animals and how cultural beliefs shape their use. – We apologise but we checked this 200-page document, which has very useful information on medicines and non-timber forest products – but the only primates mentioned seem to be gorillas, and no search in the document for mammals, pottos, angwantibos, hyrax, nocturnal, pangolin, genet, were found. We did find reference to hallucinations from eating tree bark, but we could not see how that was relevant.

2) Colyn, M., Gautier-Hion, A., & Verheyen, W. N. (1991). "A re-appraisal of palaeoenvironmental history in Central Africa: Evidence for a major fluvial refuge in the Zaire Basin." Journal of Biogeography, 18(4), 403-407. - This study, while focused on biogeography, touches on the cultural significance of certain primate species, including nocturnal ones, in the Congo Basin region. It provides insight into how these animals are embedded in the cultural landscape.  –

We checked this paper and it focuses on Cercopithecidae  and not really about cultural significance other than aspects of how they overlap with humans.

3) Lwanga, J. S. (2006). "The role of cultural beliefs in the conservation of biodiversity: A case study from the forested landscapes of Central Africa." African Journal of Ecology, 44(1), 1-9. - This article explores how cultural beliefs and practices influence the conservation of biodiversity in Central Africa, including the role of nocturnal primates in local belief systems. We were not able to access this paper on the journal home page or the web of science

 

We did find this useful paper using that same search - Sinthumule, Ndidzulafhi I. "Traditional ecological knowledge and its role in biodiversity conservation: a systematic review." Frontiers in Environmental Science 11 (2023): 1164900.

 

4) King, L. E., & Lee, P. C. (1987). "A history of research into traditional African medicine and the use of primates." Primates, 28(2), 199-214. - This paper provides an overview of the use of primates, including nocturnal species, in traditional African medicine, with a focus on how cultural beliefs dictate their use in healing practices.

We recognise the importance of this paper, but we cited much newer ones that had much more up to date information, as well as the same information as in this paper (since they were later reviews).

We also added

Williams, S. T.; Williams, K. S.; Constant, N.; Swanepoel, L.; Taylor, P. J.; Belmain, S. R.; Evans, S. W. Low‐intensity environmental education can enhance perceptions of culturally taboo wildlife.  Ecosphere. 2021. 12(7): e03482.

D'Cruze, N.; Assou, D.; Coulthard, E.; Norrey, J.; Megson, D.; Macdonald, D. W.; Harrington, L.A., Ronfot, D., Segniagbeto G.H., Auliya, M. Snake oil and pangolin scales: insights into wild animal use at “Marché des Fétiches” traditional medicine market, Togo. Nature Conservation. 2020. 39:45-71.

Cooks-Campbell, A. 2022. Belief or Value? Learn the difference and set ourself free. BetterUp. Available online. https://www.betterup.com/blog/beliefs-vs-values(Accessed on 10/09/24).

 

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

There are several grammatical errors in the whole manuscript. I have identified some specific instances and suggested ways to improve them. However, it is strongly recommended that the entire text be thoroughly reviewed to avoid these errors. - done

 

 

Reviewer 2

This paper reports on Local Ecological Knowledge about nocturnal animals in an area of the Central African Republic.  It is well written and informative.  Other than a few minor comments below, I am wondering if the authors can comment on a few questions, which from my perspective anyway would provide additional useful information for comparison with other studies, and maybe also for applications to conservation: 

 

1)        Are nocturnal animals less well-known than diurnal animals—presumably they are harder to observe?  All small mammals can be relatively hard to find and observe (especially if arboreal or underground), though, so I don’t know how much difference being nocturnal makes, but I would be interested if the authors can comment on this. 

Thank you for this query.  Nocturnal animals are harder to observe, some species within the habitat can become ‘more’ dangerous at night (elephants, leopards) and so less research has been carried out over time. We add this concern in lines 521-526.

 

 

 

2)        Another question is whether the interviewees mentioned any difference between opportunistically vs. actively hunting these animals—are some mainly found opportunistically (e.g. if they are hard to find), while others are maybe easier to find and so to hunt actively?  This has been addressed in lines 456-458

 

3)        Finally, I wonder if these animals were also known from non-hunting contexts—might one be doing something else in the forest and come across them?  Did interviewees discuss in what contexts they observed these species?  

This was included regarding see genets at night as ancestors – line 385-386, 420-421.

 

4)        Finally, did men and women form their knowledge in the same contexts, or in different contexts (e.g. when hunting vs. doing something else)?  Do you have any information about this?

Thank you for this question.  We have amended the paragraph to now say  “We did not discover how often the villagers went into the forest at night, women went daily to pick fruits and leaves. Woman appeared to be knowledgeable on medicinal use and preparation of some species for cooking which is likely to have been a skill passed down generations, and they did not express desire to be in the forest at night”.

 

32. 32.  I think this is supposed to say “Traditional Ecological Knowledge” unless the authors are deliberately changing it. – done (Line 32)
33. 34.  Same here.  I have never seen the E designated as “education”, and the titles of the cited works also say “Ecological” – done (Line 34)
34. 58-65.  You imply that the medicinal uses of these species are related to transferring some of their traits to the recipient.  This was more obvious in the discussion of potto meat.  Can you explain here what traits the species mentioned have, that lead them to be associated with curing these particular ailments?  

This was very curious to us as well. Pottos and angwantibos have a very strong hand grip as part of their defence against predators so they can cling to branches extraordinarily well. In the DRC it was recorded they said pottos would mean a strong grip. It seems that in CAR, the Ba’Aka have the same idea about angwantibos in that any child whose mother had angwantibo meat when they were pregnant with them would therefore grow up to be very strong – line 390. Otherwise, there do not seem to be any other traits that these species have that can be transferred to the recipient – unless angwantibo bites are venomous – lines 472-474

 

126. 126.  I was unsure who this was at first, in my experience when referring to an author of the paper one first says something like “one of the authors [T.F.N.]” and subsequently just put their initials. – done (Line 138)
127. 157.  I think it should be a separate sentence: “Interviewees willingly participated without bribes.” – done (Line 170)
128. 211-212 Throughout, the scientific names should also be given. – done Line 239
129. 225.  Missing the end ) – done (Line 241)
130. 282 typo – done (Line 276?)
131. 307 “the opportunistic nature of sustainable hunting habits”—I don’t understand what this has to do with gorillas, please explain. – Thank you for this. It has been amended (Line 427-429)

 

 

Reviewer 3

This study provided information needed to describe local peoples’

knowledge and use of indigenous wildlife. However, use of this information to guide and

enhance management of local wildlife is missing as is a synthesis of this information leading to a better understanding of local residents’ cultures and life-styles. Translation of the information gathered leading to a better understanding of the ecological relationships the wildlife species addressed is missing and would have been a significant contribution to understanding their natural history. - done

 

Diversity 3144943 Specific Comments

Page 1 – lines 35-37: “Beliefs are often considered irrational or illogical principles based solely on the values, faith or integrity of a culture; thus they are not facts that can be disproven with solid evidence [9].” This is a significantly negative perception of beliefs when considered in the context of TEK or LEK. I suggest that a reference more directly applied to beliefs and their consequences should be used to support this statement. – This definition of beliefs has now been amended from a new and updated reference.

 

Page 1 – lines 40-42: “Nocturnal species are frequently considered to be negative omens within countries, regions, and communities due to their curious appearance, cryptic behaviour and perturbing vocalisations.” This is certainly true but I think a more over-whelming factor is simply that they are active at night which is highly associated with evil and danger. – done (Line 42-43)

 

Pages 1-2 – lines 42-54. These comparisons are interesting but it would be helpful to describe how and why these beliefs developed so differently. – done (Line 57-59)

 

Page 2 – lines 55-66: These associations and uses are of interest. It would be helpful if some background material was provided on the origin and reasons for acceptance of these uses.

As we have been requested to shorten the paper, and because the references we cite here describe some of the background, and because this is the introduction, we feel this would make the paper (which has grown a lot in length after the review) even longer…we did add more about the potto since both reviewers allude to this.

 

Page 3 – line 125-126: Were animal populations (size and species makeup) similar in proximity of the 3 villages similar? If they were, how was this determined? If they were not, how did this potentially affect the results?

Thank you for this question. Animal populations fall into data from a second paper connected with this research that we hope to publish in future regarding presence/absence of nocturnal populations around the villages and within the national park. We felt that this aspect of the study should be excluded from this manuscript so we could focus more on traditional culture.

 

Page 3 – lines 128-129: It is not clear how snake and crocodile were used a control species since it was apparently not known how interviewees would respond to these species. The value of including species that were not from the area was in clear.

This has now been expanded between lines 148-157.

 

Page 4 – line 172: How were gestures and sounds noted, recorded, and interpreted for study purposes?

Thank you for questioning this. It has now been included on lines 193-197.

“We observed diligently, noting down descriptive gestures and sounds, that symbolised recognition and understanding of either appearance or behaviour of the species in question, and key words and sentences were translated into English. The recorded notes described actions, such as ‘crossing arms in front of face’ to show the defensive pose of Arctocebus and ‘nodding in agreement’ to verify that a comment said was true”.

 

Page 4 – line 179: How were key words determined (identified) prior to the interviews?

This has now been answered on lines 197-199:

“No specific key words were highlighted prior to interview because there was little known to researchers how much LEK was present regarding many nocturnal species in this area at the time”.

 

Page 4 – line 180: What rationale did you use to categorise key words prior to the interviews into ten appropriate categories?

The rationale for categorising key words was regarding association to each other, for example, ‘food’, ‘meat’, ‘nutrition’ would all come under the category of Consumption.

 

The sentence on lines 211-212 now reads:

“Word similarity groupings for key words were not required in NVivo as we had categorised them previously into ten appropriate categories, combining  words associated with specific factors, such as hunting, taboo and medicine”.

 

Page 5 – line 195: Why were there fewer female interviewees? Were there cultural reasons for this?

Thank you for pointing this out.  We have now explained this in lines 231-234, which now read:  “There were less females involved because most Ba’Aka who entered the forest at night would be male and they were targeted first. However, females do visit the forest during the day to find fruits, nuts and various vegetation, and those who felt confident enough to participate were warmly welcomed “

 

 

 

 

 

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Thank you for the effort you put into addressing my editorial comments and suggestions.  Your revisions have significantly improved the manuscript.

Author Response

16 October 2024

 

We thank the reviewers for their useful reviews, and we are very glad that we were able to address their comments. We have reread the manuscript again checking for final small grammatical errors and improve the manuscript for clarity.

 

I read the interesting manuscript of Gunn et al. The topic is very original, methods used are effective and data are reliable, I think. Authors devoted a large effort to improve the first version of the manuscript. The focus on nocturnal primates is excellent: these mammals are of high conservation concern and poor studied. The suggestions in conclusions are very interesting. 

I read the reviewer’s comments: I agree with some of them. However, I think that this type of papers (i) could be highly cited, (ii) are very useful to develop conservation strategies on these rare and declining mammals; (iii) could stimulate an emphasis also on the role of the local ‘wise-people’ (traditions etc.). Therefore, I think that, after revisions, this ms deserves to be published on Diversity. I bit effort of Authors should focus on the last corrections requested by the reviewers. Finally, I noted only two minor point to correct or improve:
Row 399. ‘or´should be written not in italic. 

We have checked all the “or” in the manuscript and hope we have corrected this.
In Fig. 3 Authors reported some percentages. I think that they should test the significance of differences among percentages (also using a simple chi square test).

We have added this to the methods, text results and on the figure. Thank you for the suggestion.
Have a nice work.

Thank you!