Jonathan Kingdon, 45 years ago, first pointed out the special nature of the East African coastal and montane forests, that a number of mammals are endemic to these forests, and that they are not just an eastern extension of the Central African rainforest belt. Other authors, and Kingdon himself, subsequently enhanced and modified this concept (which applies also to other animals and to plants) although, in the main, the montane forms have been designated to the ‘Eastern Arc’ region or subregion and the coastal ones to the ‘Swahilian’ region or subregion. In this paper, I review the mammals of these two sets of forests, and find that they are not in fact so different from each other. As such, I formally propose to unite them, using the name under which Kingdon informally designated them, the ‘Zanj Subregion’.

Roosevelt's sable Hippotragus niger roosevelti is one of Kenya's most distinctive and threatened large mammals. Historically, sable herds occurred in the vicinity of Taveta, and in the miombo and Diospyros woodlands of the coastal hinterland from the Tanzania-Kenya border northward for at least 210 km. Most of the historic distribution of sable in Kenya lies 15–35 km inland from the coast at 100–200 m altitude where mean annual rainfall is 800–1200 mm. In terms of numbers, however, most sable occurred in the higher and wetter Shimba Hills (150–460 m; mean annual rainfall 1000–1200 mm). Bachelor males sometimes moved >150 km inland. Much of the decline of the distribution and size of Kenya's sable population occurred during 1950–1980. Sable in Kenya not reported outside of Shimba Hills National Reserve after 1994. Geographic distribution of sable herds in Kenya declined from roughly 5000 km² in 1884 to 70 km² today (>98% decline in 132 years). The number of sable in Kenya was already small as of 1884, when there were probably <400 individuals. Kenya's sable population declined from >235 individuals in the mid-1970s to ca. 60 individuals in 2015 (>74% decline in 40 years). Given the low number, small distribution, and rapid decline, sable in Kenya qualifies as a nationally ‘Critically Endangered' species. Recommendations for the conservation of sable in Kenya are provided.

More than 150 years after the first Europeans tackled Mount Kilimanjaro, the mammal fauna of Africa's highest mountain is still shrouded in mystery. This even applies to the common eland Taurotragus oryx, the world's second largest antelope, signs of which have been observed at altitudes between 3000 m and 5200 m, supplemented by a small number of sight records. Nobody has ever researched this ‘mountain eland’, or published photographs thereof. As a result, its biology and ecology are unknown and the following question remains unanswered, ‘Is this an insular, mountain-adapted population of eland, or only a temporary or seasonal migrant from the plains below?’. This literature review intends to stimulate interest in researching eland on Mount Kilimanjaro.

As for many tropical regions, the evolutionary and demographic status of antelope populations in the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania, are poorly resolved. We employed genetic information from 618 faecal samples to assess the status of forest antelope species in terms of their distribution, intraspecific diversity and population subdivision within the Udzungwa landscape. Most species were detected in the majority of forest fragments, except for Philantomba monticola. Phylogenetic analyses were consistent with traditional taxonomy with the exception of Cephalophus harveyi which was paraphyletic with respect to C. natalensis. There was strong support for three C. harveyi mtDNA clades within the Udzungwa Mountains although nuclear genetic variation did not partition strongly with these maternal lineages. Significant partitioning of genetic variation between sampling areas was detected for all species except the endangered C. spadix. Overall, our results demonstrate the value of non-invasive genetic sampling in studying the distribution and evolution of rarely observed species.

Following the 1991–1995 civil war in Rwanda, large parts of Akagera National Park (NP) and the adjacent Mutara Game Reserve were endowed by government to returning war refugees for cattle grazing. In 1997, official degazettement reduced the area covered by these two protected areas by 60% (from 2800 km² to 1120 km²). This study reports trends in population sizes and densities of ungulates in modern Akagera NP (1120 km²), with a focus on the more common ungulates (impala, topi, zebra, buffalo, waterbuck, and warthog). Data from previous surveys are compared with our 2010–2014 road strip counts using distance sampling. A decline of ungulate populations during the civil war, followed by recovery several years after reduction of the size of the Park, is evident. The ungulate populations show different trends in size in recent years, suggesting that the carrying capacity has been reached for some species.

Recent genetic studies, using maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA, indicate a complex evolutionary history for baboons Papio spp. in general, and for eastern African baboons in particular. To further address this topic and to improve our understanding of phylogeographic patterns of baboons in eastern Africa, mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence data were analysed from 148 baboon samples from 103 locations in eastern Africa. The resultant phylogenetic reconstructions suggest an initial split of baboons into four main clades: southern chacma baboons, baboons from Mahale Mountains in Tanzania, main southern, and main northern. We confirm that the boundary between southern and northern clades lies along the Ugalla-Malagarasi River and Ruaha-Rufiji River of central Tanzania. We detected new mitochondrial haplogroups, most notably the Mahale Mountains clade, and refined haplogroup distributions. The evolutionary divergence of baboons in eastern Africa was most likely triggered and maintained by numerous episodes of population division and reconnection, probably related mainly to climate change. To better understand these processes, nuclear DNA information is required, especially to assess gene flow among populations.

Effective conservation of threatened species requires a good understanding of their habitat. Most primates are threatened by tropical forest loss. One population of the critically endangered kipunji monkey Rungwecebus kipunji occurs in a restricted part of one forest in southern Tanzania. This restricted range is something of an enigma. We collated woody vegetation data to assess habitat quality in and around the core kipunji range (Vikongwa) compared to other nearby forests. Habitat quality in Vikongwa was high compared to other regional and African forests, in that tree stem density, basal area, species richness and availability of kipunji dietary species were all comparatively high. However, the nearby Sanje forest, where the kipunji is absent, had comparable habitat to Vikongwa. We concur with previous research that the kipunji is dependent on old growth forest. However, the availability of comparable vegetation in at least one nearby forest suggests that habitat is not the only reason for the kipunji's restricted range.

Small mammals were sampled in Ruaha National Park in 2011. Forty-three species of small mammals (three species of Soricomorpha, 23 species of Chiroptera, 17 species of Rodentia) were documented. An additional three species of bat were documented from specimens found independently of this survey. Identifications and natural history data are presented for each of the species encountered. Particular attention was paid to the Isunkaviola Plateau, a forest habitat at higher altitudes within the Park, which had no previous study of small mammals. The fauna of Isunkaviola Plateau bears little resemblance to that of the Eastern Arc Mountains or the Southern Highlands.

Kakamega Forest is a small remnant of Guineo-Congolian rainforest in Kenya. Along with direct observation, we used an automatic camera to sample the nocturnal and crepuscular mammalian fauna within 1.5 km of the Kakamega Forest Station near Isecheno. We detected 11 indigenous species belonging to 10 genera, as well as domestic cats and dogs. We directly observed pottos and African palm civets. Additionally, we photographed giant pouched rats, African civets, white-tailed mongooses, a marsh mongoose, a tree pangolin, servaline genets, blotched genets, side-striped jackals, and what appears to be an African wildcat. We found both whitetailed and black-tailed morphs of the white-tailed mongooses. Similarly, we recorded side-striped jackals with and without white-tipped tails. Our findings offer insight about the seldom studied nocturnal and crepuscular mammals of Kakamega Forest, including which species are persisting there, their various morphs, and some bait preferences, thus adding to and reaffirming previous reports.

The sizes of African lion home ranges vary widely but tend to correlate with characteristics of the prey populations (e.g. prey density and preferred prey weight). Lion home ranges should be expected to temporally fluctuate according to changes in prey biomass. Here we quantified and compared the home range sizes of lions in Uganda with data collected in the 1970's and that collected in the 2000's. Average range sizes of individual lions were 34.0 and 38.1 km² for the two prides studied, while pride range was 35.7 and 43.1 km² (Fixed-kernel method). Surprisingly, we found little variation in size of these home ranges between the two periods assessed. Across both periods, lion home ranges tended to be associated with grassland and wooded grassland to woodland, riverine forest and bushland habitats. The core lion home ranges typically overlapped with habitat where Uganda kob (preferred prey in this region) were most abundant and where most kills were made. Buffalo, topi, and waterbuck are avoided while warthog is preyed on in accordance with availability. Range location has not changed greatly since the 1970s although home range size has increased and pride size decreased, possibly in response to lower prey biomass.