key: cord-0853291-y0p86h7c authors: Lehmann, David; Halbwax, Michel Louis; Makaga, Loïc; Whytock, Robbie; Ndindiwe Malata, Lisa‐Laure; Bombenda Mouele, Wesley; Momboua, Brice Roxan; Koumba Pambo, Aurélie Flore; White, Lee J. T. title: Pangolins and bats living together in underground burrows in Lopé National Park, Gabon date: 2020-06-17 journal: Afr J Ecol DOI: 10.1111/aje.12759 sha: 2d4d86fb8f4ab10209c9fa34b8089d35b751deff doc_id: 853291 cord_uid: y0p86h7c nan ECOFAC 6 program of the European Union; Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux du Gabon (ANPN); Total Gabon Vert In light of recent publications (e.g. Lam et al., 2020; Shang et al., 2020) that indicate a link between pangolin and bat coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), we believe that recent observations of pangolins and bats sharing burrows in Lopé, Central Gabon, is of general interest. Our observations were made during an ecological and spatial movement study of the giant pangolin, Smutsia gigantea. We used direct animal tracking, telemetry and 30 camera traps to study a mature male giant pangolin in the northern part of Lopé National Park in late 2019. We incidentally recorded the movement and behaviour of other individuals using the same territory. Individuals could be recognised by scale pattern and size. On 10 occasions, two individuals were filmed simultaneously. The different located burrows used by the focal male were also thoroughly visually inspected. The burrows consist of complex, interlacing underground networks with up to 10 concealed entrances dug out between large roots and rocks ( Figure 1 ). They span up to 75 m 2 , are up to 4 m deep and tunnels are up to 30 m long ( Figure 1 ). Galleries intersect to form large ovoid resting chambers. The focal male ranges over 38 km 2 of savannah, gallery forest, forest fragments, secondary and mature tropical rain forest. We identified twelve different sleeping sites in gallery and forest fragments that are regularly used by the focal male, nine of which are burrow systems and three are hollow trees. Preliminary telemetry data suggest several more potential burrows exist in mature forest but these have not yet been inspected visually. Seven of the 12 burrows were frequently visited by at least one smaller male. Three of them were used by two different pangolin This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. © 2020 The Authors. African Journal of Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd females with infants that were never observed together. Six of the burrows were frequently visited by a large lone female; with whom the male was observed walking, feeding and interacting during successive nights. Burrows were rarely used on two successive nights. Two hollow trees were occasionally visited. Bats are considered to be the reservoir of many emerging virulent viruses, highly pathogenic for humans, such as SARS coronaviruses (CoV) (Hu et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2018) , Ebola virus and Marburg virus (Maganga et al., 2011) . In Gabon, previous studies highlighted the cocirculation of Ebola and Marburg viruses in bat populations, with a high seroprevalence of both viruses in fruit bats (Maganga et al., 2011; Pourrut et al., 2009) . Furthermore, Miniopterus inflatus, Hipposideros ruber and Coleura afra were found carrying novel species of Astrovirus (Rougeron et al., 2016) . Ultimately, Hipposideros ruber were found infected with CoVs (Maganga et al., 2020) . Lam et al. (2020) found recombination signals between Malayan pangolins, Manis javanica coronaviruses, bat coronaviruses RaTG13 and human SARS-CoV-2. The fact that both giant and white-bellied pangolins in Lopé, Central Gabon, use burrows that are inhabited by several species of bats illustrates that there is frequent opportunity for pangolins to be exposed to bat-borne viruses. Pangolins are also commonly found in game meat markets in Gabon and are sometimes sold alive (Ingram et al., 2017; Mambeya et al., 2018) demonstrating risk of viral infection to humans. Until the links between bat, pangolin and human coronaviruses are better understood we suggest that Gabon takes steps to stop people capturing, handling or eating wild bats or wild pangolins. In this respect, wildlife researchers should conduct a detailed serological survey of the giant pangolin burrow's ecosystem. This work was undertaken at the Station d' Etudes des Gorilles et des Chimpanzés (SEGC) in Lopé National Park, run by the Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (ANPN). Funding was from ANPN, Total Gabon Vert and the ECOFAC 6 program of the European Union. We thank CENAREST and ANPN for delivering permit n°AR/0038/19. Dr. Whytock is funded by UKRI-GCRF Trade Hub. Lee White is a minister in the Gabonese Government. Data are available at the Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux du Gabon. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4529-8117 Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus Assessing Africa-wide pangolin exploitation by scaling local data: assessing african pangolin exploitation Identifying SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses in Malayan pangolins Is Marburg virus enzootic in Gabon? Genetic diversity and ecology of coronaviruses hosted by cave-dwelling bats in Gabon The emergence of a commercial trade in pangolins from Gabon Large serological survey showing cocirculation of Ebola and Marburg viruses in Gabonese bat populations, and a high seroprevalence of both viruses in Rousettus aegyptiacus Characterization and phylogenetic analysis of new bat astroviruses Structural basis of receptor recognition by SARS-CoV-2 Serological evidence of bat SARS-related coronavirus infection in humans, China