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Mbeli Bai is a 12.9 hectare protected freshwater swamp forest, part of the Sangha Trinational Forest and the
Western Congolian swamp forests The Western Congolian swamp forests ( French: ''Forêts marécageuses de l'ouest du Congo'') are an ecoregion of the Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining Central African Republic. Together with the adjacent Easter ...
ecoregion, in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the
Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...
. The area is commonly used for research on wild gorillas and elephants.


History

In 1993, the
Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a global 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) non-governmental organization, headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, with a mission to save "wildlife and wild places across the globe". Founded in ...
, together with the Ministry of Forest Economy and Environment, protected the swamp from human settlement. The area is inhabited by
African forest elephant The African forest elephant (''Loxodonta cyclotis'') is one of the two living species of African elephant, along with the African bush elephant. It is native to humid tropical forests in West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the ...
s, sitatunga, black-and-white colobus monkeys, Congo clawless and spotted-necked otter, and around 226
western lowland gorilla The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...
s found in groups of between 2 and 16 individuals.


Animal research

Mbeli Bai is commonly used for animal research. Since February 1995, researchers working for Mbeli Bai's research group, Mbeli Bai Study (MBS), have been monitoring the animals in Mbeli Bai. The Mbeli Bai Study is funded by the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the Cologne Zoological Garden, the Dublin Zoo, the Toronto zoo, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Woodland Park Zoo, in exchange for receiving animals. More than 330 gorillas have been monitored spanning more than 1750 gorilla years of around 55 groups of silverback gorillas. The researchers monitored gorilla socialisation, power structures and the first tool use by gorillas.


Poaching

The area had some elephant poaching during the 1990s. During the late 2000s and the 2010s, a poaching group led by Guyvanho killed around 500 elephants in the area. On August 19, 2020, he and his group were arrested, and Guyvanho was sentenced to 30 years in prison.


Gallery

File:Mapa mbelibai2.png, Mbeli Bai on a map File:Gorrila tool use-Efi2.jpg, Female western lowland gorilla Efi, the first gorilla spotted using tools, Mbeli Bai, 2005 File:African elephant, Mbeli-Bai, Republic of Congo (18320426684).jpg, Elephant in marsh, Mbeli Bai, 2015. Photo by the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...


References

{{reflist, 2 Protected areas of the Republic of the Congo