Congo and Central African Republic - Wildlife

The Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic are home to a variety of unique fauna and flora which we have attempted to illustrate below. A tough place to visit but a fantastic wildlife holiday! Tours to Congo can are run on a small group basis; please contact us for further information.

Western Lowland Gorillas with shorter, lighter and slightly reddish hair and a slighter stature (still big enough!) are renowned for how difficult they are to habituate when compared to their Eastern cousins. On a number of occasions researchers have succeeded, only for the group to be destroyed by the bushmeat trade or disease at a later stage. Some reasons for this difference in ease of habituation stems from the fact that firstly western lowland gorillas forage further for their food and secondly that they are scared as a result of the bushmeat trade. The western lowland gorillas in this region are therefore of extreme importance as they remain the only habituated western lowland gorillas in existence. Some people disagree with the habituation of animals for tourism purposes however it is fair to say that tourism brings in money to a destination and animals that are in desperate need of protecting and without this they would not survive. One of the most encouraging signs of this working is in Uganda and Rwanda where mountain gorilla populations have increased over the last 10 years or so from approximately 650 to 740. 

Bai Hokou Research Camp provides the base from where all research and tourism activities for tracking the lowland gorillas is carried out. Trackers set out in the early hours of the morning to locate the gorillas whilst tourists follow up behind. Chances of seeing these gorillas in the wild are approximately 75% every time you track them.

Dzanga Bai remains one of the most jaw dropping sites one has had the privilege to visit in Africa. Roughly translated to "the village of the elephants" Dzanga offers viewing of some tremendous wildlife interaction from the comfort of your treeline hide. Predominantly populated by the grunts and snorts of hundreds of forest elephants, gorillas are occasional visitors to the fringes of the Bai.

Chimpanzees are often seen and heard whilst tracking through this area of the Congo Basin Rainforest. Not habituated as of yet sightings are usually at a distance.

Forest Elephants are a main attraction of Dzangh Bai. Congregating on this forest clearing in order to access mineral salts there can often be hundreds of elephants in the Bai at any one time!

Bongo the largest African forest antelope is fairly rare and not very well known. Predominantly located in the forests of West Africa the bongo is not often seen as a result of habitat destruction.