Habituation, ecotourism and research for conservation of western gorillas in Central African Republic – Bai Hokou - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Gorilla Gazette Année : 2009

Habituation, ecotourism and research for conservation of western gorillas in Central African Republic – Bai Hokou

Résumé

The south-western region of the Central African Republic reminds one of a paradisiacal habitat, harbouring an exceptional faunal diversity: there are forest elephants, forest buffaloes, sitatungas, bongos, several duiker species, two species of forest pigs, and ten primate species besides gorillas and chimpanzees. As a consequence of the tremendous decline of western gorilla populations in Gabon and Republic of Congo due to Ebola outbreaks, the IUCN recently classified western gorillas as “critically endangered”. Under the direction of the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas, it consists of 1) the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, integrally protected, and 2) the Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest Special Reserve where local people can carry out legal forest activities. Until now Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas has greatly contributed to the protection of western gorillas and forest elephants, preserving their habitat and supporting ecological and behavioral scientific studies. Gorilla tourism draws national and international attention to problems involved in protecting the ecosystem where gorillas live, and increases support for higher conservation efforts and the livelihood of local people as the case in Rwanda and Uganda. However, developing gorilla ecotourism in Central Africa has been more difficult since western gorillas have been particularly challenging to habituate to human presence, much more so than mountain gorillas. The success of Bai Hokou in habituating western gorillas is also due to rigorous application of rules aimed at minimizing risks of disease transmission from humans to gorillas. The recent success of habituation of western gorillas is starting to gradually fill the gap in our knowledge on western gorilla socioecology. Until recently, information based on direct observation of gorilla behavioral ecology was limited to few, specific habitats, such as forest clearings, or to the well studied population of mountain gorillas. However, mountain and lowland habitats differ dramatically and accordingly the socio-ecology of western and mountain gorillas. Long term research and monitoring of habituated groups of western gorillas are fundamental to increase our understanding of their nutritional and habitat requirements, their life history and their social dynamics. In Bai Hokou four western gorilla groups are currently identified and/or daily followed. Currently we are continuing our research to obtain a complete picture of western gorilla food choice.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
Masi_Gorilla_Gazette_2009.pdf (313.11 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)

Dates et versions

hal-00480402 , version 1 (04-05-2010)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-00480402 , version 1

Citer

Shelly Masi. Habituation, ecotourism and research for conservation of western gorillas in Central African Republic – Bai Hokou. Gorilla Gazette, 2009, pp.31-34. ⟨hal-00480402⟩
300 Consultations
312 Téléchargements

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More