Hunting data collected in the Ebo forest, Cameroon from 2008 to 2023

The long-term survival of many mammal populations relies on how effectively we mitigate the threat from unsustainable hunting. Yet, hunting activities are often cryptic, especially in unprotected forests. Here, we investigate whether hunting signs can help understand the spatiotemporal dynamics of hunting activities in an unprotected African rainforest and examine how landscape characteristics predict various indicators of hunting. We recorded hunting signs (e.g., shotgun cartridges, wire snares, direct sightings) systematically on 23 parallel recce lines across the Ebo forest, Cameroon from 2008 to 2023. We assigned hunting data and spatial covariates (e.g., elevation, distance to the village) to 1×1 km grid cells and applied generalized linear mixed models to predict the effects of these covariates on hunting. We found that hunting was commonplace across the entire Ebo forest. The best-fitting models for each hunting sign differed considerably. Shotgun cartridges and all hunting sign..., Data collection
We established twenty-three parallel recce lines placed 4 km apart and totalling c. 345 km across the entire Ebo forest, Cameroon in 2008 (see Fig. 1 in the publication). The recce lines were oriented perpendicularly to the main rivers and were surveyed in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 (partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic), 2021, 2022, and 2023. The surveys generally took place from October to April in the subsequent year, with the initial year regarded as the year in which the survey occurred. The survey team consisted of 2-3 trained observers followed by 3 porters, all moving at about 1 km per hour, using a handheld GPS (Garmin) and a manual compass to navigate along the predefined recce lines. The team used only pruning shears (secateurs) to ease movement, minimise damage to vegetation, minimise the risk of hunters using the recces, and distinguish their cuts from hunters’ machete cuts. We recorded different types of signs indicating human activities, includin..., , # Hunting data collected in the Ebo forest, Cameroon from 2008 to 2023

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8931zcrzk](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8931zcrzk)

This dataset contains hunting data from the Ebo landscape, as well as other landscape features derived from GIS sources as indicated below. For the sake of the analyses, the data were assigned to 1 x 1 km grid cells, resulting in 346 cells.

## Description of the data and file structure

The data contained in the CSV file is organized in columns as follows:

Site: this represents the ID of the 1 x 1 km grid cells. There are a total of 346 grid cells, therefore, the column \"site\" varies from 1 to 346.

Year: represents the year during which the survey took place. Each year is coded as a number as follows: 1 = 2008, 2 = 2012, 3 = 2016, 4 = 2017, 5 = 2018, 6 = 2019, 7 = 2021, 8 = 2022, 9 = 2023. In 2019, most grid cells were not surveyed; this year should therefore not be used in analyses.

Effort: represents the distance in km walked i...