They carve paths through the forest and disperse the seeds of gigantic trees. Their disappearance would not only mean the loss of our planet’s largest land mammal, but would also drastically change the habitat of hundreds of other species. Today is World Elephant Day, a day to reflect on the plight of the giants of our forests and savannahs, raise awareness and take a stand...
Over the past decade central Africa’s forest elephants have been hit by an unprecedented wave of ivory poaching. Elephant populations have declined drastically in the region. The Republic of Congo, harbouring a quarter of Africa’s remaining forest elephants, has not escaped this poaching crisis. Poaching gangs have become more organised, often traveling from neighbouring countries to exploit Congo’s wildlife. ...
Each morning at dawn the whistle blasts out through the fog, initiating a flurry of activity as the Ndoki rangers emerge from their tents and start their warm-up laps of the training camp. The forest towers above them, the training facility and its inhabitants dwarfed by the expansive Nouabale-Ndoki National Park. These brave men and women are the Park’s on-the-ground defence against a wave of...
The Nouabale-Ndoki National Park is a unique place – not a single road enters into the Park, and the tract of forest within its boundaries is some of the most intact in the Congo Basin. Despite good roads in the Park periphery, surveying remote zones of the Park, and moving between the Park’s two headquarters – one in the north-eastern periphery and the other on...
Phael Malonga and Frelcia Bambi spend up to a five-weeks at a time out in the wilderness of the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo. They are working on an exciting new project - at the end of 2016 Cornell University’s Elephant Listening Project and WCS-Congo launched a study using hidden microphones to better monitor forest elephant populations and movements, pinpoint the gunshots...
Twenty-two Congolese men and women stand lined-up in a clearing surrounded by dense rainforest. To their left, Unit Leader Frank Moutengue, marches forward and raises the Congolese flag beneath the blazing sun. The national anthem echoes through the trees that encircle the training facility. These brave individuals are the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park’s on-the-ground defence against a wave of poaching that threatens northern Congo’s wildlife. ...
Last month we shared with you amazing footage captured by the Mondika Gorilla Project team of a day-old baby western lowland gorilla. We are very excited to share this video update on the little fellow, who has now been named Tembo. He is strong and healthy and growing up fast!...
Soaked to the shoulders, Christelle Nguizi, ranger, pulls herself through another reed-filled marsh. Ten days into a patrol in the south of Lac Tele Community Reserve, she’s lead a team of five men through flooded forest and across vast wetlands by boat, canoe and, when these can’t pass through, by foot. Their mission is to survey key elephant poaching hotspots in the south of the...
Last week Saturday when the Mondika Gorilla Project team headed out to Kingo’s group through the misty, morning forest they were met with an exciting surprise. Mekome, one of the females in the group, came climbing down some lianas from the tree canopy. Her five-year-old infant was waiting for her on the ground, and when she reached him the team heard a soft whining noise...
OUESSO, Republic of Congo (February 23, 2018) – Three poachers responsible for slaughtering eleven elephants in and around Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in January were convicted to five years’ imprisonment by the local district court last week, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society). The poachers, who had ventured deep into the remote Ndoki forest and spent three weeks killing elephants for their ivory, walked into an...