1. Large ungulates are major ecological drivers shaping the structure and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. However, they are also a highly vulnerable group of mammals because of increasing human impacts in the form of hunting, habitat loss and degradation. 2. In view of the general decline of wild ungulates worldwide, and more specifically in tropical forests, there is an urgent need for rigorous assessments of population statuses of tropical forest ungulate species, as well as evaluations of drivers of their declines in order to make timely and informed conservation decisions. 3.