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Wildlife

Elephants clear paths, disperse seeds, and care for their favorite fruit trees by clearing vegetation, which helps them grow strong. They are forest engineers, without whom the Congo Basin forest would lose an estimated 6 to 9% of its above-ground carbon storage capacity. 

Photo credit : Scott Ramsay

Hornbills often associate with monkeys, feeding on insects disturbed by the monkeys’ movements in the forest. Here, a piping hornbill and a mous- tached monkey feast on termites in a tree. 

Photo credit : Thomas Nicolon

Chameleons are very rare sightings in the Ndoki Forest, but not impossible, as evidenced by this one, photographed in the Djéké Triangle, near the Mondika research site. 

Photo credit : Pavel Zoubek

From playful interactions to lethal aggression, social interactions and bonds between gorillas and chimpanzees cover a wide range, including consistent relationships between individuals. Twenty years of observations of sympatric primates in Ndoki have yielded fascinating insights. 

Photo credit : Sean Brogan

On a forest path a stone's throw away from Bomassa, an African civet hunts termites that emerge from the ground during the rainy season. 

Photo credit : Thomas Nicolon

Often motionless and expertly camouflaged among the leaves covering the forest floor, the gaboon viper can easily go unnoticed despite its size (over 120 cm). This one was spotted near Lac Télé. 

Photo credit : Thomas Nicolon

The forest is a dynamic and constantly changing environment. Fallen trees create openings in the canopy, allowing sunlight to penetrate to the ground and herbaceous vegetation to proliferate rapidly, creating new feeding areas for gorillas and great photo opportunities. 

Photo credit : Scott Ramsay

In the forest lake of Wali Baï, near Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, elephants gather to feed on Spirogyra algae, mine minerals from the ground, enjoy a bath, mingle and interact. 

Photo credit : Scott Ramsay

The dense vegetation of the Congo Basin forests is home to highly elusive species such as the leopard, which requires the use of camera traps in heavily frequented areas such as the vicinity of Mbeli Bai, where this impressive male was photographed. 

Photo credit : Will Burrard-Lucas

Small monkeys are increasingly hunted for their meat, which is smoked and trafficked to large urban centers such as Kinshasa and Brazzaville to meet the protein needs of a rapidly growing population. Certain monkeys, such as the grey-cheeked mangabey, are particularly targeted because they are easy to spot due to their large size and very vocal behavior. 

Photo credit : Kyle de Nobrega

Considered the world's most trafficked mammals for their scales and meat, pangolins in Congo are also killed by farmers who accuse them of destroying their crops, even though they are insectivores. 

Photo credit : Sébastien Assoignons

The elephants that frequent Mbeli Baï are observed daily by a team of researchers, who recognize them by the distinctive shape of their tails, tusks, or ears, which are sometimes torn or pierced, as is the case with the right ear of this solitary male, one of the most frequent visitors to the clearing. 

Photo credit : Will Burrard-Lucas