Habitat use of the endangered golden‐rumped sengi Rhynchocyon chrysopygus

The endangered golden-rumped sengi are found only in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest with 395.4 km(2) of forest habitat, and perhaps in a few isolated forest and thicket fragments of total area less than 30 km(2)all within central coastal Kenya. Understanding its habitat use is an important requirement to develop better conservation measures for the species and its remaining forest habitat. A more reliable method for monitoring its status is also needed. We used the Bayesian occupancy modelling with camera trap data and habitat mapping to characterise the species habitat use in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. The species uses 328 km(2)(95% CI: 289-364 km(2)) of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest habitat, and its site use increases with distance from forest edge, with the highest site use in theCynometrathicket (0.93; 95% CI: 0.82-1). Its use of the mixed forest habitat has been significantly reduced following years of logging ofAfzelia quanzensis. We recommend the use of modelled occupancy, interpreted as the proportion of area used by the species, to monitor the species status. Occupancy models account for detection probability, and heterogeneity in site use and detection can be incorporated. Estimated territory sizes can be combined to obtain abundance estimates.