Wildlife of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The wildlife of the Democratic Republic of the Congo includes its fauna

Fauna

Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...

and flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

Overview

The country's rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

s contain great biodiversity

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...

, including many rare and endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

species, such as both species of chimpanzee: the common chimpanzee

Common Chimpanzee

The common chimpanzee , also known as the robust chimpanzee, is a great ape. Colloquially, the common chimpanzee is often called the chimpanzee , though technically this term refers to both species in the genus Pan: the common chimpanzee and the closely related bonobo, formerly called the pygmy...

and the bonobo

Bonobo

The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...

(also known as the Pygmy Chimpanzee), mountain tigers, okapi

Okapi

The okapi , Okapia johnstoni, is a giraffid artiodactyl mammal native to the Ituri Rainforest, located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Central Africa...

and white rhino. Five of the country's national park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

s are listed as World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

s: the Garumba

Garamba National Park

Garamba National Park, located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa, was established in 1938. One of Africa's oldest National parks, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. Garamba is the home to the world's last known wild population of Northern White Rhinoceros...

, Kahuzi-Biega

Kahuzi-Biéga National Park

Kahuzi-Biéga National Park is in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, 50 km west of the town of Bukavu in the Kivu Region, near to the western side of Lake Kivu and the Rwandan border....

, Salonga

Salonga National Park

Salonga National Park is a national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo located in the Congo River basin. It is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve covering about 36,000 km². Animals in the park include bonobos, Salonga monkeys, Tshuapa red colobus, Zaire peacocks, forest...

and Virunga

Virunga National Park

The Virunga National Park , formerly named Albert National Park, is a 7800 square km National Park that stretches from the Virunga Mountains in the South, to the Rwenzori Mountains in the North, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Rwenzori...

National Parks, and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve

Okapi Wildlife Reserve

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve is a World Heritage Site in the Ituri Forest in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the borders with Sudan and Uganda...

. The civil war and resultant poor economic conditions have endangered much of this biodiversity. Many park wardens were either killed or could not afford to continue their work. All five sites are listed by UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

as World Heritage In Danger.

Mammals

The ecoregion is home to the endangered Western Lowland Gorilla

Western Lowland Gorilla

The western lowland gorilla is a subspecies of the western gorilla that lives in montane, primary, and secondary forests and lowland swamps in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It is the gorilla usually found in zoos...

(Gorilla gorilla gorilla), African Forest Elephant

African Forest Elephant

The African Forest Elephant is a forest dwelling elephant of the Congo Basin. Formerly considered either a synonym or a subspecies of the African Savanna Elephant , a 2010 study established that the two are distinct species...

(Loxodonta cyclotis), and Okapi

Okapi

The okapi , Okapia johnstoni, is a giraffid artiodactyl mammal native to the Ituri Rainforest, located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Central Africa...

(Okapia johnstoni)

A population of 'super-sized' chimpanzees, the so-called Bili Ape

Bili Ape

Bili Ape, also Bondo Mystery Ape, is the name given to a large chimpanzee that inhabits Bili Forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo....

s that the local people say eat the birds in area, has been reported from Bili Forest

Bili Forest

The Bili Forest is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa in the Bas-Uele District. It lies between the Ubangui River to the north and the Uele River to the south, and is named after the small nearby town of Bili which is about 200 km east of Bondo and 250 km north of...

in the far north, about 200 km east of Bondo, DR Congo

Bondo, DR Congo

Bondo is a town in north-central Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Bas-Uele District, Orientale Province, about 200 km north-west of Buta. Bondo lies mainly on the north bank of the Uele River. As of 2009 it had an estimated population of 19,601....

. University of Amsterdam scientists observed the animals eating the carcass of a leopard

Leopard

The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...

. No scientific evidence has been presented that they hunt and kill big cats, though the Bili chimpanzees exhibit unusual behaviour such as sleeping in large nests on the ground rather than in trees, indicating a possible lack of fear of such predators.

Animals native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

African Buffalo
African Buffalo
The African buffalo, affalo, nyati, Mbogo or Cape buffalo is a large African bovine. It is not closely related to the slightly larger wild Asian water buffalo, but its ancestry remains unclear...
African Bush Elephant
African Bush Elephant
The African Bush Elephant or African Savanna Elephant is the larger of the two species of African elephant. Both it and the African Forest Elephant have usually been classified as a single species, known simply as the African Elephant...
African Civet
African Civet
The African Civet is the largest representative of the African Viverridae. It is the sole member of its genus. African Civets can be found from coast to coast across sub-Saharan Africa. They are primarily nocturnal and spend the day sleeping in dense vegetation...
African Golden Cat
African Golden Cat
The African Golden Cat is a medium-sized wild cat distributed over the rainforests of West and Central Africa. It is about long, and has a tail of about in length...
African Manatee
African Manatee
The African manatee , also known as the West African manatee or seacow, is a species of manatee and is the most endangered of the four species of sirenians. Scientists think they are most similar to West Indian manatees...
African Palm Civet
African Palm Civet
The African palm civet , also known as the two-spotted palm civet, is a small mammal, with short legs, small ears, a body resembling a cat, and a long lithe tail as long as its body. Adults usually weigh . It is native to the forests of eastern Africa, where it usually inhabits trees...
African Striped Weasel
African striped weasel
The African striped weasel , the lone member of genus Poecilogale, is a small black and white weasel native to sub-Saharan Africa. It looks very much like a striped polecat, but it is much thinner and has shorter hair. It is a sleek, black color with a white tail and four white stripes running...
Banded Mongoose
Banded Mongoose
The Banded Mongoose is a mongoose commonly found in the central and eastern parts of Africa. It lives in savannas, open forests and grasslands and feeds primarily on beetles and millipedes. Mongooses use various types of dens for shelter including termite mounds...
Bili Ape
Bili Ape
Bili Ape, also Bondo Mystery Ape, is the name given to a large chimpanzee that inhabits Bili Forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo....
Black-collared Lovebird
Black-collared Lovebird
The Black-collared Lovebird, Agapornis swindernianus also known as Swindern's Lovebird is a small, 13.5 cm long, African parrot in the genus Agapornis. It is a mostly green parrot with black band on the back of its neck, and a dark greyish-black bill. Both sexes are similar...
Blue Duiker
Blue Duiker
Blue Duiker is a small forest dwelling duiker found in the Central Africa and southern South Africa.Blue Duikers stand around 35 centimetres tall at the shoulder and weigh 4 kilograms.They are the smallest of the antelope family. Blue Duikers have a brown coat with a slight blue tinge – hence...
Blue-headed Wood-dove
Blue-headed Wood-dove
The Blue-headed Wood Dove, Turtur brehmeri also known as Blue-headed Dove is a medium-sized, up to 25 cm long, rufous brown wood-dove with bluish-grey head, an iridescent green patches on wings, reddish bill, dark brown iris and dark red feet. Both sexes are similar...
Bohor Reedbuck
Bohor Reedbuck
The Bohor Reedbuck is an antelope native to central Africa in the genus Redunca, that mostly lives in grasslands near water.-Description:...
Bongo (antelope)
Bongo (antelope)
The western or lowland bongo, Tragelaphus eurycerus eurycerus, is a herbivorous, mostly nocturnal forest ungulate and among the largest of the African forest antelope species....
Bonobo
Bonobo
The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
Bushbuck
Bushbuck
The bushbuck is the most widespread antelope in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is found in rain forests, montane forests, forest-savanna mosaics and bush savannaforest and woodland. Recently, genetic studies have shown that the bushbuck, is in fact a complex of two geographically and phenotypically...
Bwindi Gorilla
Cape Hyrax
Cape Hyrax
The Rock Hyrax , or Cape Hyrax, is one of the four living species of the order Hyracoidea, and the only living species in the genus Procavia. Like all hyraxes, it is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal, superficially resembling a guinea pig with short ears and tail...
Cheetah
Cheetah
The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...
Common Duiker
Common Duiker
The Common Duiker, Sylvicapra grimmia, also known as the Grey or Bush Duiker, is a small antelope with small horns found in west, central, east, and southern Africa- essentially everywhere in Africa south of the Sahara, excluding the horn of Africa and the rainforests of the central and western...
Common Eland
Common Eland
The common eland , also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is the largest antelope in the African continent...
Congo Peafowl
Congo Peafowl
The Congo Peafowl is a species of peafowl. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Afropavo.The male is a large bird of up to in length. Its feathers are deep blue with a metallic green and violet tinge. It has bare red neck skin, grey feet, and a black tail with fourteen feathers...
Eastern Lowland Gorilla
Eastern Lowland Gorilla
The Eastern Lowland Gorilla is a subspecies of Eastern Gorilla that is now only found in the forests of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo...
Gallagher's free-tailed bat
Gallagher's Free-tailed Bat
Gallagher's free-tailed bat is a free-tailed bat endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo....
Giant Eland
Giant Eland
The giant eland is an open forest savannah antelope. It is found in Central African Republic, South Sudan, Cameroon and Senegal. There are two subspecies: the endangered T. d. derbianus, found in Senegal's Niokolo-Koba National Park, and the low risk T. d...
Giant forest hog
Giant forest hog
The Giant Forest Hog is native to wooded habitats in Africa and generally is considered the largest wild member of the Suidae . Despite its large size and relatively wide distribution, it was only described by scientists in 1904...
Giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
Golden Jackal
Golden Jackal
The golden jackal , also known as the common jackal, Asiatic jackal, thos or gold-wolf is a Canid of the genus Canis indigenous to north and northeastern Africa, southeastern and central Europe , Asia Minor, the Middle East and southeast Asia...
Greater Kudu
Greater Kudu
The Greater Kudu is a woodland antelope found throughout eastern and southern Africa. Despite occupying such widespread territory, they are sparsely populated in most areas, due to a declining habitat, deforestation and hunting....
Ground Pangolin
Handsome Francolin
Handsome Francolin
The Handsome Francolin, Pternistis nobilis is a large, up to 35 cm long, terrestrial forest francolin with a dark reddish brown plumage, grey head, red bill and legs, brown iris, bare red orbital skin and rufous grey below. Both sexes are similar. The female is slightly smaller than male...
Hartebeest
Hartebeest
The hartebeest is a grassland antelope found in West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa. It is one of the three species classified in the genus Alcelaphus....
Hippopotamus
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
Kob
Kob
The Kob is an antelope found across Sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to South Sudan. Found along the Northern Savanna, often seen in Murchison Falls and Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda; Garamba and Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as grassy floodplains of...
Lechwe
Lechwe
The Lechwe, or Southern Lechwe, is an antelope found in Botswana, Zambia, south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, north-eastern Namibia, and eastern Angola, especially in the Okavango Delta, Kafue Flats and Bangweulu Swamps....
Leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
Lichtenstein's Hartebeest
Lichtenstein's Hartebeest
Lichtenstein's Hartebeest is a savannah and floodplain dwelling antelope found in southern Central Africa. By some this species is classified as Sigmoceros lichtensteinii....
Lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
Marsh Mongoose
Marsh Mongoose
The Marsh Mongoose, or Water Mongoose, is a medium-sized mammal but a large mongoose. Weight can range from , with an average range of . From the head to the base of the tail, these animals range from , with the tail adding . It is a member of the mongoose family and the only member of its genus...
Mountain Gorilla
Mountain Gorilla
The Mountain Gorilla is one of the two subspecies of the Eastern Gorilla. There are two populations. One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, within three National Parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga in the eastern Democratic...
Okapi
Okapi
The okapi , Okapia johnstoni, is a giraffid artiodactyl mammal native to the Ituri Rainforest, located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Central Africa...
Oribi
Oribi
Oribi are graceful slender-legged, long-necked small antelope found in grassland almost throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.-Description:...
Plains Zebra
Plains Zebra
The plains zebra , also known as the common zebra or Burchell's zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. It ranges from the south of Ethiopia through East Africa to as far south as Angola and eastern South Africa...
Puku
Puku
The Puku is an antelope found in wet grasslands in southern Democratic Republic of Congo, in Namibia and in Zambia.Puku stand about 80 centimetres at the shoulder and weigh from 70 to 80 kilograms. Puku are sandy brown in colour, the underbelly is a slightly lighter brown...
Red River Hog
Red River Hog
The red river hog , also known as the bush pig , is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests...
Roan Antelope
Roan Antelope
The Roan Antelope is a savanna antelope found in West, Central, East Africa and Southern Africa.Roan Antelope stand about a metre and half at the shoulder and weigh around 250 kilograms. Named for the "roan' colour , they have a lighter underbelly, white eyebrows and cheeks and a black face,...
Sable Antelope
Sable Antelope
The Sable Antelope is an antelope which inhabits wooded savannah in East Africa south of Kenya, and in Southern Africa.-Subspecies:There are four subspecies:* H. n. niger which is considered low risk conservation dependent...
Serval
Serval
The serval , Leptailurus serval or Caracal serval, known in Afrikaans as Tierboskat, "tiger-forest-cat", is a medium-sized African wild cat. DNA studies have shown that the serval is closely related to the African golden cat and the caracal...
Side-striped Jackal
Side-striped Jackal
The side-striped jackal is a species of jackal, native to central and southern Africa. Unlike its cousin, the smaller black-backed jackal, which dwells in open plains, the side-striped jackal primarily dwells in woodland and scrub areas....
Sitatunga
Sitatunga
The situtunga or marshbuck is a swamp-dwelling antelope found throughout Central Africa, centering on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon and parts of Southern Sudan as well as in Ghana, Botswana, Zambia, Gabon, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.-Description:Situtunga stand about one and a...
Southern Reedbuck
Southern Reedbuck
The Southern Reedbuck, Rietbok or Common Reedbuck is a diurnal antelope typically found in southern Africa.It was first described by Pieter Boddaert, a Dutch physician and naturalist, in 1785...
Spotted Hyena
Spotted Hyena
The spotted hyena also known as laughing hyena, is a carnivorous mammal of the family Hyaenidae, of which it is the largest extant member. Though the species' prehistoric range included Eurasia extending from Atlantic Europe to China, it now only occurs in all of Africa south of the Sahara save...
Topi
Topi
The Tsessebe , is one of five subspecies in the binomial class D. lunatus. The other subspecies include Korrigum , Tiang , Coastal Topi , and Topi . Tesessebe are found primarily in Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa...
Trumpeter Hornbill
Trumpeter Hornbill
The Trumpeter Hornbill, Bycanistes bucinator, is a medium-sized hornbill, with length between , characterized by a large grey casque on the bill, smaller in females. The eyes are brown or red, with pink surrounding skin. Body mass is reported between . They are similar to Silvery-cheeked Hornbill...
Upemba Lechwe
Upemba Lechwe
The Upemba Lechwe, Kobus anselli, is a species of antelope found only in the Upemba wetlands in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was described in 2005, after analysis of thirty five museum specimens collected in 1926 and 1947-8. It was previously overlooked due to its similarity to the Lechwe...
Warthog
Warthog
The Warthog or Common Warthog is a wild member of the pig family that lives in grassland, savanna, and woodland in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the past it was commonly treated as a subspecies of P...
Waterbuck
Waterbuck
The Waterbuck is a large antelope found widely in Sub-Saharan Africa.Waterbuck stand at the shoulder. Males weigh and females . Their coats are reddish brown in colour and become progressively darker with age; they have a white 'bib' under their throats and white on their rumps...
Western Lowland Gorilla
Western Lowland Gorilla
The western lowland gorilla is a subspecies of the western gorilla that lives in montane, primary, and secondary forests and lowland swamps in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It is the gorilla usually found in zoos...
White Rhinoceros
White Rhinoceros
The White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped rhinoceros is one of the five species of rhinoceros that still exist. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species...
Yellow-backed Duiker
Yellow-backed Duiker
The Yellow-backed Duiker , is an antelope found in central and western Africa. They have the widest range of any duiker in the genus Cephalophus....

Flora

The ecoregion contains areas of permanently flooded swamp forest, seasonally flooded swamp forest, and flooded grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

. The permanently flooded swamp forests are home to extensive stands of Raphia
Raffia palm
The Raffia palms are a genus of twenty species of palms native to tropical regions of Africa, especially Madagascar, with one species also occurring in Central and South America. They grow up to 16 m tall and are remarkable for their compound pinnate leaves, the longest in the plant kingdom;...

palm. Trees in the seasonally flooded forests include species of Garcinia
Garcinia
Garcinia is a plant genus of the family Clusiaceae native to Asia, Australia, tropical and southern Africa, and Polynesia. The number of species is highly disputed, with various sources recognizing between 50 and about 300 taxa as specifically valid...

and Manilkara
Manilkara
Manilkara is a genus of trees in the family Sapotaceae. Collectively known as manilkara trees, they occur throughout the tropics. A close relative is the genus Pouteria....

.

The Western Congolian swamp forests

Western Congolian swamp forests

The Western Congolian swamp forests are an ecoregion of the Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Together with the adjacent Eastern Congolian swamp forests, it forms one of the largest continuous areas of freshwater swamp forest in the world. It is a flooded forest with a...

are an ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

of the Republic of the Congo

Republic of the Congo

The Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...

and the DMC. Together with the adjacent Eastern Congolian swamp forests, it forms one of the largest continuous areas of freshwater swamp forest

Freshwater swamp forest

Freshwater swamp forests, or flooded forests, are forests which are inundated with freshwater, either permanently or seasonally. They normally occur along the lower reaches of rivers and around freshwater lakes...

in the world. It is a flooded forest with a high canopy, dense undergrowth and has a muddy floor. It has not been disturbed very much by outside influences and so remains largely pristine as getting through this forest is called "almost impossible".

Conservation

Over the past century, the DRC has developed into the center of what has been called the Central Africa

Central Africa

Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....

n "bushmeat

Bushmeat

Bushmeat initially referred to the hunting of wild animals in West and Central Africa and is a calque from the French viande de brousse. Today the term is commonly used for meat of terrestrial wild animals, killed for subsistence or commercial purposes throughout the humid tropics of the Americas,...

" problem, which is regarded by many as a major environmental

Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

, as well as, socio-economic crisis. Bushmeat refers to the meat of wild animals. It is typically obtained through trapping, usually with wire snares, or otherwise with shotguns or arms originally intended for use in the DRC's numerous military conflicts. The "bushmeat crisis" emerged in the DRC mainly as a result of the poor living conditions of the Congolese people. A rising population combined with deplorable economic conditions forced many Congolese to become dependent on bushmeat, either as a means of acquiring income (hunting the meat and selling), or dependency on it for food. Unemployment

Unemployment

Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...

and urbanization

Urbanization

Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....

throughout Central Africa have exacerbated the problem further by turning cities like the urban sprawl of Kinshasa

Kinshasa

Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....

into the prime market for bushmeat. This combination has caused not only widespread endangerment of local fauna, but has forced humans to trudge deeper into the wilderness in search of the desired animal meat. This overhunting results in the deaths of more animals and makes resources even more scarce for humans. The hunting has also been facilitated by the extensive logging prevalent throughout the Congo's rainforests (from corporate logging

Logging

Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...

, in addition to farmers clearing out forest in order to create areas for agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

), which allows hunters much easier access to previously unreachable jungle terrain, while simultaneously eroding away at the habitats of animals.

A case that has particularly alarmed conservationists is that of primates. The Congo is inhabited not only by two distinct species of chimpanzee - the Common chimpanzee

Common Chimpanzee

(Pan troglodytes) and the bonobo

Bonobo

(Pan paniscus) - but by the gorilla

Gorilla

Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...

as well. It is the only country in the world in which bonobo are found in the wild. The two species of chimpanzees, along with gorillas, are the closest living evolutionary relatives to people. Much concern has been raised about Great ape extinction

Ape extinction

Ape extinction, particularly great ape extinction, is one of the most widely held biodiversity concerns.There are very few breeding populations of non-human great apes outside captivity, and all such populations are not only formally classified as endangered species, but in the direct path of human...

. Because of hunting and habitat destruction, the chimpanzee and the gorilla, both of whose population once numbered in the millions have now dwindled down to only about 200,000 per species. Gorillas and both species of chimpanzee are classified as Endangered by the World Conservation Union

World Conservation Union

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges." The organization publishes the IUCN Red List, compiling information from a network of...

, as well as the okapi

Okapi

The okapi , Okapia johnstoni, is a giraffid artiodactyl mammal native to the Ituri Rainforest, located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Central Africa...

, which is also native to the area.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Overview

Mammals

Flora

Conservation

See also

External links