Wildlife collections of Royal Palace Museums in The West Region of Cameroon with a Focus on wildlife conservation

The royal palace museums of the Grassfields’ Kingdoms of West Region of Cameroon are well recognized for the preservation of culturally significant objects and practices. To date, the role of palace museums in wildlife conservation has received little consideration. Herein, a preliminary study into the animalbased artefacts of palace museums from a wildlife conservation perspective is presented. A total of 11 chiefdom palace museums in the West Region of Cameroon were surveyed and the animal species represented in their exhibitions recorded. Parts of 32 different animal species, including locally extinct large mammals such as lion, cheetah, chimpanzee, and elephant were found. The primary purpose for inclusion of specimens in palace museums was for preservation of culture. However, potential wildlife conservation focused uses to which palace museums may also put their collections are discussed herein. KeyWords: Grassfields, Bamileke, Bamoun, Culture, Education, Mammals.   Les musees du palais royal des royaumes des Grassfields de la region de l’Ouest Cameroun sont bien connus pour la preservation d’objets et de pratiques culturellement significatifs. A ce jour, le role des musees de palais dans la conservation de la faune a ete peu pris en compte. Ici, une etude preliminaire des collections animales de ces musees du point de vue de la conservation de la faune est presentee. Onze musees de palais de chefferies de la region de l’Ouest Cameroun ont ete etudies et les especes animales representees dans leurs expositions ont ete enregistrees. Des parties de 32 especes animales differentes, y compris de grands mammiferes  localement disparus comme le lion, le guepard, le chimpanze et l’elephant ont ete decouverts. Le but principal de l’inclusion de specimens dans les musees du palais est la preservation de la culture. Cependant, les utilisations potentielles axees sur la conservation de la faune auxquelles les musees de palais peuvent egalement mettre leurs collections sont discutees ici. Mots cles: